DRUG USERS FOUND LESS LIKELY TO GET NEW AIDS TREATMENTS

WASHINGTON (AP) - Revolutionary AIDS drugs that have prolonged life for
thousands of people are less likely to reach one class of vitims - those who
contracted the virus through drug use, the first national study of treatment
found.

Blacks, Latinos, people with Medicaid and those without health health
insurance were all less likely to get the new drugs and other important
health care - particularly in early 1996, when the study began.

Two years later, the gap had narrowed for some groups - notably Latinos and
blacks. But it persisted for many others, including women, who are most
likely to get HIV through sex with a drug user and were also less likely to
be in treatment.

"It's very clear there is a great divide in HIV care between the haves and
the have-nots," said Dr. Martin F. Shapiro of the University of California
Los Angeles, lead author of the study being published Wednesday in the
Journal of the American Medical Association.

Part of the explanation is simple economics. People infected through
intravenous drug use, or sex with a drug user, generally have less money,
less education and more life problems - all of which keep them from getting
effective care. Someone who can't pay the rent or buy groceries or who is
addicted to drugs may find getting medical care a low priority.