ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 19, 1990                   TAG: 9003222329
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN IS NEEDED FOR AIDS

PRAISE goes to Charles Hite, your medical writer, for his article "Support groups assail guidelines for free AIDS drug." The article demonstrates the general lack of commitment of the Virginia Department of Health and the federal government in dealing effectively with the AIDS epidemic.

We have never before encountered a health problem like AIDS in America. Our health system is not designed to deal effectively with it. AIDS will require change in the way health care is provided. My hope is that health officials become innovative and learn flexibility before more people die. Although there is not yet a cure for AIDS, the condition can be treated.

Unfortunately, access to AZT is but one aspect of the problem. Treatment of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (a potentially lethal opportunistic infection that occurs in about 60 percent of AIDS patients) with aerosolyzed pentamidine or other drugs is a major expense. Lab tests to monitor T4 cell counts, a gauge of the progression of AIDS, are very costly. Care for patients who can no longer maintain themselves in their own homes will need to be addressed. The list goes on.

A comprehensive plan for AIDS is needed now. This plan will have to come from the highest levels of the federal and state governments. America has the resources to fight AIDS. What we need now is commitment.\ DON MOHIDIN\ ROANOKE 


 by CNB