THE ABUSE OF HEROIN ALL AROUND (3 OF 3)

To the Editor

Re "Heroin Carries AIDS to a Region in Siberia" (front page, April 24:
H.I.V. infection in Russia and its neighbors is fueled almost entirely by
injected drug use. These countries now face the devastating damage done to
Africa and parts of Southeast Asia by the global AIDS epidemic. But there
is a small window of opportunity to act before the epidemic outpaces the
capacity to control it.

To do so, more national decision-makers, foreign aid agencies and
nongovernment organizations must provide financial and policy support for
pragmatic harm-reduction strategies. We have the capability: needle
exchanges and methadone therapy are effective public health interventions.

Aryer Beier
Pres, Open Society Institute
New York, April 26, 2000