AIDS: The Straight Scare

By now, everyone knows that AIDS is spreading into the heterosexual community. According to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, by the year 1991, 50,000 deaths per year will be caused by AIDS. That is more than the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War.

The state of Texas ranks number four in the nation in the total number of AIDS cases. And any statistics, however grim, may only be the tip of the iceberg: AIDS has an estimated five- to ten-year incubation period. Dr. Charles Haley of the Dallas County Health Department estimates that there are between 15,000 and 25,000 carriers of the virus in Dallas County, and that one out of every twelve men between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-nine may be infected. At least 80 percent of those have not yet developed symptoms.

According to Dianna Garcia of the Oak Lawn Counseling Center, in February the center received in excess of 100 calls on Its AIDS information line, most of them from heterosexual women wanting to know about safe sex and the symptoms of AIDS. Karen Herndon. director of AIDS testing for Dallas County. says that in 1986. 1,244 people were tested for AIDS. Fifty-one percent of the tests were administered to gay or bisexual men and only 7 percent were given to heterosexuals. Now, new figures show the rising fear of the disease among heterosexuals. In February of 1987, 229 people were tested. Sixty-one percent of the tests were given to heterosexuals; only 39 percent were given to homosexuals or bisex-uals. Nine percent of the heterosexuals tested positive.

Despite the growing heterosexual concern, ignorance and misinformation still abound. The AIDS Resource Center, founded by the Dallas Gay Alliance, has begun a new campaign to disseminate information throughout the heterosexual community. AD2, a group of young advertising people, was chosen by the center to create the $100,000-plu5 public service campaign (funded entirely by donations) using print, radio, and television to spread the facts and bury the myths. “The leading cause of AIDS is ignorance” is the theme of the campaign. A survey done by AD2 intended to find out what people knew about the virus brought startling answers. Many people thought the disease could be transmitted by toilet seats, hot tubs, or mos-quitos. In fact, last year the Dallas Police Department equipped concerned officers with mouth tubes (to use during mouth-to-mouth resuscitation), rubber gloves, and insect repellent to aid in the prevention of communicable diseases.

While the AIDS Resource Center and other groups are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to educate people about AIDS, the city has made little contribution to the effort. Another group, the AIDS ARMS Network is funded entirely by a grant from a national foundation. The AIDS Resource Center and the Oak Lawn Counseling Center are both supported by donations and fundraising benefits. The only AIDS-related services paid for by the city are a surveillance nurse and an educational person at the Dallas County Health Department. No new funding is planned for 1987.