ASSUMING RESPONSIBILITY

I want to comment on Stephen Chapman's recent op-ed piece promoting syringe
distribution to addicts to prevent transmission of the human
immunodeficiency virus to women so their babies won't become infected.

A more practical solution is AZT treatment. Pregnant HIV-infected women
receiving AZT at sites throughout the nation, including right here in
Orlando, don't transmit HIV to their babies.

At Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women, our HUG-Me program -- a
designated Ryan White national site -- has not had a single case of
mother-baby transmission in two years!

In 1998, we treated 60 pregnant HIV-positive women. In 1999, the number was
65. This year, 63 women are already enrolled. Not one of these 188
HIV-positive women transmitted the virus to her baby.

Without treatment, an estimated 25 percent -- or 47 babies - would have
become HIV-positive.

Obstetrician/gynecologists must inform pregnant women of the benefits of
testing. I urge pregnant women reading this to get tested.

The implications for your baby could be enormous.

Most HIV-infected women aren't drug addicts. Most of them look just like
you.

Lisa Early
Director, The Howard Phillips Center for Children & Families,
Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women
ORLANDO