|
|
Article: World's AIDS Toll May Reach Tens of Millions;HHS Secretary Bowen Urges Education to Fight Disease's Spread
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- January 30, 1987
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
|
Health and Human Services Secretary Otis R. Bowen said yesterday
that "unless progress is made," a worldwide AIDS epidemic will dwarf
such earlier medical disasters as the Black Plague, smallpox and
typhoid.
"You haven't heard or read anything yet," Bowen said at the
National Press Club. "If we can't make progress, we face the dreadful
prospect of a worldwide death toll in the tens of millions a decade
from now."
Bowen said that at least 270,000 cases are expected in the United
States in five years-with more than 10 percent of new cases occurring
among heterosexuals.
He said he is confident that a vaccine will be found but is
equally sure it will not be in time to head off an epidemic of ...