European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 19, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday octo bems 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 Dod wrestles with aids problems pos five test results spurring debate by Norman Blackcap my Terr Ikei Washington the military has tested 1 Mil Noa men and women on Active Doty for exposure 10 the disease aids and encountered the same 0.15 per cent a alive Rale seen earlier in the testing of re Cruzila Pentagon sources say. As a resell roughly 1,500 men and women have been identified As Laving been exposed to the virus associated with the deadly disease. Of those just Over half Bave begun showing symptom indicative of progressive clinical disease rounds at t medical Dis charge the sources say. I related development. Congress in approving the Tut pin s fiscal 1987 budget nne Rudi language forbidding the use of information obtained from medical interview to support any and Vene pen Onri action.1 including discharge. Of Cut directive would overturn part of the Penta Tjoa i confidentiality policy. Currently if a service rember acknowledges drug use or homosexual activity i the course of aids screening that information is not supposed to be used As the sole grounds for Puni Tive actions such As court martial. But it can be used astound for discharge. Al the same Lime Pentagon officials say they have begun debating whether the department has been to lenient toward Active duty personnel who lest positive for exposure but who show no signs of the actual Dis ease. Such individuals now Are allowed to remain on Active duly although they face continuing medical screening and restrictions on Doty assignments and overseas deployments. Some military leaders argue the policy should be changed and any Indrid at testing positive be Given an honorable discharge the sources say aids or acquired immune deficiency syndrome is a Fata disease that destroys the body immune sys tem. It has been confined largely to Hoof equals intravenous drug users and individual Wei tiny tainted blood Iran fusions although there � some evidence the disease is spreading to the general population. The Boott screen employed by the Pentagon can Only indicate whether an individual has been exposed to a virus associated with the disease not whether be will contract it. Tie resorts of aids testing among Active duty personnel were provided thursday by officials who asked to remain Anonymous. The Pentagon regularly releases results of tests on new recruits. The tonnes averted Lac failure to release Inch in formation stems from computer problems and nol a deliberate Effort to keep it secret. Although the test result have nol been consolidated one source added the Pentagon has seen sufficient results front each service to better appreciate the problem it faces. The source said the Pentagon predicts internally that by the time All 2.1 million members of the armed forces Are tested Between 3,000 and 3,100 will show signs of exposure to the disease. That translates 10 an incidence rate of 1.5 cases per1,000 individuals tested the same rate being experienced with new recruits. Based on what researchers know today in is possible that some men and women who show Metis of exposure will never contract the disease the officials said. Buisch individuals could Stilt transmit the disease through sexual Contact if 1,300 u 1,500 individuals Are affected that i a Large enough number to raise readiness concerns one official said. Theoretically everybody on the Force is supposed to be deplorable and these people Arent the Soure added. On the other hand absent signs of the disease this is still an individual with valuable training. It s Aret thorny the decision on confidentiality meantime was de scribed by a staff member of the House armed serv ice committee As having been prompted by concern Over the accuracy of the medical information being gathered by military researchers the aide who requested anonymity said there was no evidence the Pentagon was using ils aids program to mount a Witch Hunt for homosexuals of drug abates. The key to reliable data is the degree of Cando obtained in interviews the committee aide Laid. In order to Foster truthful open discussion with the Doc Tor something in the nature of immunity should be accorded the new research leads Dupont co. To Back Steps to save Ozone Washington up1 citing con Cern Over a Hole in he Ozone radiation shield Over Antarctica and other Dis quieting reports the Dupont co. Has made a major turnabout and now favors global action to limit production of gases that endanger Ozone. Dupont is the world s largest producer of the chlorofluorocarbons which it cads freon that Are used As refrigerants and in some places of the world a Aero sol propellants. Company spokesman Jim Adshead Attu Pool Headquarters in Wilmington del., Friday said the company sent a in Ter to its customers sept. 26 announcing a change in do font s position previously the company had said not enough was known about the dangers of the gases to regulate them. But Adshead said chlorofluorocarbon use worldwide is now increasing after declining since the late 1970s when the gases were banned from aerosol products m the United slates. Thai plus the Dis covery of a significant seasonal depletion of Ozone Over Antarctica and some other recent findings prompted the company to change its position. We have concluded that in now would be prudent to take further precautionary measures to limit rfcs world wide while science works to provide policymakers with better guidance the company said. Ozone is a form of oxygen and it Isth atmosphere s inn Cipf screen against harmful ultraviolet radiation from tie Sun. In 1974, two scientists discovered the gases then used in aerosol products and As a refrigerant could Lead to de thru Cioa of Ozone molecules six to 30mile up in the atmosphere. Scientists tear increased Ultra Violet Dunn reaching Earth s surface could Halo Moncalm of skin cancer and have Advent effects on plants and Marine organisms. The gases also contribute to global wanning of the atmosphere. In a related development one of the scientists who made the initial discovery said the Ozone becomes thinner in the fall in the atmosphere Over a research station at Arosa Switzerland. This is similar but on a smaller scale to the phenomenon seen Over Antarctica. Moreover Sherwood Rowland said new analyses of a Long series of measurements made at Arosa show the Over All amount of the Ozone in the strato sphere above Arosa has decreased 3 percent with most of the loss occurring in the past decade. Speaking via a Telephone Hookup from his office at the University of California at Irvine Rowland said at a world re sources Institute news conference that the new data from Switzerland show Ozone in the air at that site is depleted Smuch As 6 percent every october de Cember period. That corresponds to reports from Brit ish researchers and an american satellite thai Ozone Over a part of Antarctica i depleted by As much As 40 percent every fall. This Hole in the Ozone shield prompted an expedition to Antarctica in August to study the phenomenon. The scientists Are scheduled to reveal their preliminary findings at an extraordinary National science foundation news conference monday originating by satellite from Antarctica. Dupont said h continued to believe no immediate Hazard to health or the environment exists from current Levels of release of the gases into the Atmo sphere. But it Kin it was concerned about continued growth of the Industry. The Dupont Tetter and an accompanying Dupont petition statement Wen released Friday by the world resources Institute. Ads Bead said i company had Given the Institute copy of the letter but did not know it a going to be released to news Media. Herst Ludwig Meyer Bariban Meyer married couple sought in assassination Case Wiesbaden a police Are seek ing a married couple suspected of be longing 10 the terrorist red army fac Tion in connection with last week s assassination of a foreign ministry offi Cial the government Saia statement issued by the Federal crime office identified uie couple As Horst Lud wig and Barbara Meyer and said they arc wanted for questioning in the killing Sofge rold von Brau Muehl. Who was shot oct. 10 in front of hit office also released photographs of the have no been charged with Mur Der in the Braunm Ehi Case and the statement did not say what Rote they Are suspected1 of having in the attack. But it appealed to All citizens for at Iunce in locating the suspect and also for information that might link the Cou pm to the getaway car a. Fed opel during the period from sept. 12 to out 10 Hont Ludwig Meyer a already being sought m connection with ther terrorist Bain the july 9 slaying Rofkar Weiqi Bec kurts manager of the Sie mens electronics company. And police were seeking Meyer s wife for questioning in the attempted theft of explosives in Otte Hoefen in july 198s, the Meyers Are believed to be among the 20 militant members of the leftist red army faction which claimed responsibility for lulling both nun Kueht and Bec kurts. Brau Muehl was shot by a masked gunman after he got out of a taxi at his Home in the Eppendorf District of the fed eral capital of Bonn. The killer escaped in an opel Kadi to with another person witnesses said Brau Muehl was head of the foreign ministry s political department and a dose adviser to foreign minister Hans Dietrich Genscher. The getaway car was found abandoned in Bonn last week. The Federal Crim office said the vehicle provided clues linking the killings of Brau Muehl and Bec kurts the attempted theft in Ottest Hoefen and the slaying of Munich industrialist Ernst Zimmermann in february 1985. Ils statement also said there were connections Between Braunm nets slaying and the bomb attack at Rhet main a in August 1985 that killed two american servicemen and wounded 10 people
