Subject: 61% of Americans cite AIDS as a top issue
From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 15 Sep 1996 14:02:51 -0400

ACT UP WASHINGTON MEDIA ALERT
Contact Steve Michael or Wayne Turner at 202.547.6780
for immediate release          Sunday, September 15, 1996
Washington Post Poll: 61% of Americans worry about the epidemic
AIDS ties Crime as No. 2 National Concern
(Washington, D.C.) AIDS ranks in the top three concerns of Americans
according to a poll conducted by the Washington Post.  In a front page
article appearing on Sunday, September 15,  Mario A. Brossard and Richard
Morin wrote that "more than six in 10 respondents said they worried 'a great
deal' that America's education system will worsen, crime will increase and
AIDS will spread."  Education edged out AIDS and crime by only one percentage
point.
 "From the 1992 primaries to the 1996 Democratic Convention in Chicago, ACT
UP has been demanding leadership from Bill Clinton on AIDS." states Steve
Michael of ACT UP Washington.  "Since Bill Clinton runs his presidency based
on polling data, maybe this will be enough to move Clinton into action.  This
presents the opportunity for Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, Congress and the media
to finally address the challenges of the AIDS epidemic in a real and
substantive way." 
 Adds Wayne Turner of ACT UP Washington, "AIDS is clearly a front burner
issue for American voters.  Since the urgency of saving lives isn't enough
for President Clinton, maybe now he'll get around to keeping his 1992
campaign promises on AIDS.  We've gotten little more out of this President
than his predecessors, yet the death total has more than doubled."
 In 1992, Clinton promised a Manhattan-style project to find a cure for AIDS
(introduced in Congress as HR761, the Nadler AIDS Cure Act), appoint a
cabinet-level AIDS czar to direct a national response to the epidemic,
implement the 30 recommendations of the 1991 National Commission on AIDS, and
lift the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs.   
 "More Americans worry about AIDS at 61%, than the difficulty or ease of
obtaining an abortion at 26%. Yet Clinton, Dole and Congress dwell on
abortion and ignore AIDS," note Michael. He continues, "More of us care more
about AIDS policy  than term limits, Whitewater, Ross Perot, Communism, tax
cuts, Bosnia, religion, or abortion, yet Bob Dole did not even mention the
existence of AIDS in his acceptance speech at the recent Republican National
Convention. Bill Clinton is no better. On his campaign train to the
Democratic National Convention, the president made $12,000,000 worth of
promises per mile.  But absolutely nothing, not one word, not one dime for or
about AIDS."  
 The Washington Post wrote, "Even as newer and more effective treatments for
the disease are being developed, AIDS is foremost on the minds of many
Americans.  More than six in 10 worry a great deal about the spread of AIDS,
and almost two in 10 worry a 'good' amount.
 More than three-quarters of African Americans say they worry a great deal
about the spread of the disease."
 Ann Northrop of ACT UP New York states "Clearly the American people are much
better informed about the AIDS epidemic that either of the presidential
candidates.  We demand that Bill Clinton and Bob Dole treat AIDS as the
emergency that it is."
 Northrop continues, "Dole finds time to talk to the Christian Coalition, but
he can't find the time to help end the AIDS epidemic. We call on the AIDS
community, national Gay organizations and the press to hound both Dole and
Clinton.  They must embrace AIDS as an issue.  Millions of lives depend on
presidential leadership."
 Turner concurs, "AIDS requires presidential leadership, not 'I feel your
pain' staged-photo-ops. Real prevention means funding needle exchange.
 Research requires real coordination by a real-cabinet-level AIDS czar.
 Treatment means more than a three drug cocktail.   As the National
Commission on AIDS stated in its final report in 1993, 'What should be done
is not complicated.  But it requires leadership, a plan, and the national
resolve to implement it."  
 Jamie Thomas told the Washington Post, "I volunteer in an AIDS hospice, and
I see it starting to spread to the young.  The teenagers, they don't practice
safe sex."  
 Marcie Kite remembers, "being a young adult and feeling invincible, and I'm
sure that's the way my children and their peers feel. I don't think they take
AIDS seriously."
 "It is also clear that neither the Clinton administration or the Dole
campaign  take AIDS prevention seriously.  We have been begging for  real HIV
prevention efforts that focus on Gay men and injection drug users   But our
government's funding ban on needle exchange still stands and the Clinton
White House refuses to fund a study or authorize distribution of the Reality
condom for Gay-male-anal-sex," states Michael. "Lives don't matter to Bill
Clinton, votes do.  This is the ultimate win-win situation.  He can win votes
and save lives."
 Steve Michael challenged Bill Clinton earlier this year in New Hampshire's
Democratic primary, and will be on the general election ballot with Northrop
in Tennessee, airing a series of television commercials critical of the
President's performance on AIDS issues.  
 In the coming days, ACT UP Washington will be calling on members of the
Lesbian and Gay and AIDS communities to lobby Bill Clinton, Bob Dole,
Congress and the press to finally focus on AIDS in a real and meaningful way.
Notes Michael, "We must phone, fax, write, e-mail and cajole everyone in a
position of power in America.  AIDS deserves a real national response.
Millions of lives depend on it." 
 ACT UP will be holding an 'Ashes Action' at the White House during next
month's AIDS Quilt display (October 10 thru October 13), delivering the
remains of loved ones who have died during Clinton's presidency .  Actions
are also being planned at Congress, and Dole campaign headquarters.. 
 A complete copy of the Washington Post article can be obtained by contacting
ACT UP Washington at 202.547.6780.