European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 29, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday june 29, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 3 Reagan May move to bar aids Bias Washington a president Reagan hinted monday thai he is ready to Back efforts to bar discrimination against people who suffer Irani the deadly disease aids saying we be got to gel moving to give people  accepting the final report of a i a Mcmoor commis Sion he named a year ago. Reagan said it represents an impressive Effort and significantly increases our level of understanding to Deal with  Reagan announced in a written statement that in response to the commission s nearly goo recommendations he a i directed or. Ian Macdonald a special assistant Tor drug policy to recommend within 30 Days a course of action that takes us  retired adm. James d. Walkins the commission s chairman told reporters he was heartened by the statement Reagan made in connection with the panel s principal recommendation the enactment of Federal legislation prohibiting discrimination against victims of the disease. At Admiral Wall ins suggestion i have also directed or. Macdonald to include among his priorities consideration of specific measures to strengthen implementation of the policy guidance from aids in the workplace " Reagan said. These guidelines spell out the rights of aids sufferers. Watkins said Reagan s statement sends the first signal that we re on the Way toward protecting aids victims against Job insurance and housing discrimination. When pressed to say whether Reagan had made a commitment to sign such an executive order Walkins said Well take it easy. I think it s  Walkins called Reagan a compassionate humanitarian and said the president had indicated his thinking might have changed somewhat on aids after he received a letter from a Mother telling him that two of her children became infected from the aids virus As a result of a blood transfusion she had. President Reagan accepts the report of his aids commission from retired adm junes d. Walking of Taa mass panel rejects plan to give addicts Needles Boston a a legislative com Mittee has rejected a proposal to distribute clean hypodermic Needles to drug addicts in Boston to curb the spread of aids. I m disappointed mayor Raymond l. Flynn said after monday s Vole. Bui i can t afford to be disappointed and upset very Long not when you look at babies and people dying of  the measure received an unfavourable report after an emotional debate during a joint committee on health care hear ing. After the 10-3 vote against the Bill it proceeds to the House floor where sup porters said they had no Hope of revers ing the committee s negative recommendation. The band is playing on and on Larry Kessler director of the aids action committee said after the Vole. The Needle Exchange was supported by Flynn and several medical experts but was opposed by gov. Michael s. Duka Kis his Public health commissioner and the Massachusetts medical society. The Bill would authorize a sin month Pilot program to distribute sterile Needles to about 200 of the estimated 14,000 intravenous drug abut ers in Boston. Sup porters said they hoped to find evidence of reduced aids transmission. Kessler faulted legislators for their Lack of courage and said it was hypo critical for lawmakers to argue that a Needle Exchange would undermine the War on drugs when the state has re fused to provide adequate funding for drug treatment centers. What we saw Here today was a classic example of despicable Doublespeak Kessler fumed hinting that the next step might involve civil disobedience in the form of unauthorized Needle distributions. Rynn said he shared Kessler s frustration but would not condone Law break ing. Instead he said he would fight to educate the Public and the legislature about the risk of aids to expand drug treatment centers and to reach out to addicts to encourage them to sterilize their Needles with bleach. After the fall election maybe there la be a better environment Flynn said referring to the legislators re election campaigns and the governor s presiden tial Effort. They did t vote for it today. But they will vote for  in committee opponents argued that for the state to distribute hypodermic Needles to addicts would Send a message that the government condones illegal drug abuse. Unless we re prepared to talk about the legalization of drugs which we re not the passage of the petition would be grossly inconsistent said rep. Mar Jone Clapprood a Democrat. Rep. John Mcdonough a Democrat and the Bill s chief proponent urged his colleagues to Al least test the effective Ness of a Needle Exchange program in slowing the spread of aids which can be transmitted through sharing of contaminated syringes. The question thai will come before us is did we do everything we could to Slop this tragedy he argued. Supporters noted that Massachusetts is one of the few slates where it is against the Law to sell or distribute hypodermic Needles and a state with one of the High est Rales of aids increase. The sharing of dirty Needles among drug addicts is a major cause of the spread of the disease. The first . Needle Exchange pro Gram is scheduled to begin soon in port land Ore. Earlier this month dutch researchers reported at an International aids symposium in Stockholm that four years of providing clean syringes to addicts in Amsterdam produced a significant drop in Needle sharing and May have helped curb the spread of aids but did not Lead to increased drug use. Church gives support to minister with aids Little Rock Ark. A Church members stood in line for about 30 min utes wailing to express love and support for a minister who got aids from a tainted blood transfusion. The Rev. Norwood Jones old the congregation at St. James United methodist Church thai he Learned in february that blood he received during a heart opera Tion in july 19s6 was from 8 donor who carried the aids virus. The 68-year-old associate minister told of his disease at a saturday afternoon serv ice and again at three services sunday. More than 1,100 people attended. Price Roark chairman of the Church s pastor Parish relations committee said the 18-member committee gave Over whelming support to Jones at a june 15 meeting and asked him 10 continue As one of four assistant ministers. It was one of the Moat uplifting experiences i be had in Church in a Long time Roark said. Committee members stood around for a Long time after the meeting hugging Norwood and wishing him  the Rev. John p. Miles senior min ister of the 3,400-member Church said there was a similar response Friday night Al a meeting of the Church s administrative Board. He said 70 members of the 100-member Board were present and gave or. Jones a vote of Confidence and asked him to continue his  Miles said that although the aids infection was a tragedy for Jones who is a great Grandfather and for the Church there s something else Here too. This is an Opportunity for this Church to give a ministry and to make a  he said the Church should be challenged to do some much needed educating on How a Community responds to acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Nih employee infected with aids in Accident Washington api a National institutes of health employee was found monday to have become infected with the deadly aids virus through an injury at work according to a published report. The Washington Post reported in tuesday s editions that Federal health officials said the Nih employee became infected after a rial filled with ads infected blood broke in the worker s hand. There have been two similar Inci dents involving workers Al laboratories associated with the Nih but officials said this is the first Accident involving an Nih employee. Officials told the newspaper the worker was wearing gloves at the time of the Accident a few weeks ago and one Nih scientist said the Accident involved a safety device thai is sup posed 10 reduce the risk of just the kind of Accident that occurred. It s there so this Type of thing won t happen the scientist told the Post. Officials said the employee who still works Al the Nih was diagnosed As being infected with the virus by the clinical Center at the Nih on monday afternoon and is receiving medical treat ment. The newspaper said officials have declined to discuss specifics of the Acci Dent and requested that the employee s gender and Job title be withheld to protect the worker s privacy. Other Nih employees were in formed about the Accident monday. Recent figures from the Federal Cen ters for disease control indicate thai the rate of accidental infection with the aids virus among health care workers is Only a fraction of 1 percent