LETTERS: OVERLOOKING AIDS PREVENTION

To the Editor:

I was disturbed that in the seven pages on AIDS at 20 in Science Times
(June 5), there was not a single mention of H.I.V. prevention.

Among the major successes against AIDS have been the demonstrations that
campaigns targeting sexual and blood-borne transmission have reduced H.I.V.
incidence, often drastically. Even recent news about the resurgence of
infections among young men who have sex with men would not have made
headlines had it not been for the sharp reductions in incidence previously
brought about by politically contentious but effective prevention measures.

There was no mention of the effectiveness of syringe exchange programs and
little consideration of ways people with H.I.V. have changed their behavior
to reduce transmission risks.

These oversights are, I fear, symptomatic of a viewpoint that values
treatment over prevention; prevention is a science, a cornerstone of public
health.

Dr. Robert Heimer
New Haven