| Abstract: | The Social Science Research Council is analyzing the social consequences of the AIDS epidemic from the viewpoint of developing society's coping mechanisms and policies. Since neither drugs nor vaccines for AIDS are available, the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine have urged that social service research be directed at the areas of education and policy and also at discrimination against AIDS patients and high-risk minorities, such as homosexuals and intravenous drug users. Education is essential in order to effect behavioral changes among these groups as well as to forestall panic among the public. The AIDS epidemic comes at a time when public health emphasis was shifting from communicable disease to chronic degenerative disorders, and problems, such as the possible need for isolation wards are reappearing. Moreover, the total cost of caring for AIDS sufferers is expected to be between 8 and 16 billion pounds sterling by 1991. As AIDS patients become unemployed, they lose their insurance benefits, and the cost of their care reverts to Medicaid and state revenues. Research needs to be done as to the degree to which voluntary health agencies will be able to help. The AIDS epidemic also affects civil rights. Some federal agencies and the armed forces screen applicants for AIDS seropositivity. The army, which traditionally has recruited from inner city minorities, has found that up to 2% of applicants are HIV seropositive, and foreign governments are beginning to object to the stationing of US soldiers in their countries. Answers must be provided for all of these and other social issues if we are to cope with the social effects of the AIDS epidemic. |
