Statement by Assistant
to the President for Press Relations Fitzwater on the Presidential Commission
on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic
The
President is announcing today his intention to appoint the Presidential
Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic, the AIDS commission.
The Commission's 13 members are drawn from a wide range of backgrounds and
points of view. They bring together expertise in scientific investigation,
medical care and its costs, public health, private research, and both State and
National Government, as well as in fields that deal with the many issues of
ethics, law, and behavior involved in the AIDS epidemic.
The
Commission will consist of the following individuals:
William
Eugene Mayberry, Chairman
Colleen
Conway-Welch
John
J. Creedon
Theresa
L. Crenshaw
Richard
M. DeVos
Frank
Lilly
Woodrow
A. Myers, Jr.
John
Cardinal O'Connor
Penny
Pullen
Cory
SerVaas
William
B. Walsh
Admiral
James D. Watkins (Ret.)
The
primary focus of the Commission will be to recommend measures that Federal,
State, and local officials can take to stop the spread of AIDS, to assist in
research aimed at finding a cure for AIDS, and to better care for those who
have the disease. In the course of its work, the Commission will:
-- review current efforts at AIDS education;
-- examine what is being done at all levels of
government and outside of government to combat the spread of AIDS;
-- examine the impact of the needs of AIDS
patients in years to come on health care in the
-- review the history of dealing with
communicable disease epidemics in the
-- evaluate current research relating to the
prevention and treatment of AIDS;
-- identify areas for future research;
-- examine policies for development and
release of drugs and vaccines to combat AIDS;
-- assess the extent to which AIDS has spread
both among specific risk groups and the population as a whole;
-- study the legal and ethical issues relating
to AIDS;
-- review the role of the
The
Commission will proceed under the leadership of Dr. Eugene Mayberry, the chief
executive officer of the Mayo Clinic. The President has asked Dr. Mayberry to
move quickly, and the Commission will deliver its first report to the President
within 90 days. It will produce a final report within a year. The President
believes that the spread of AIDS is a cause of deep concern, but not panic. If
Americans work together with common sense and common purpose, the President
believes we will, in the end, defeat this common threat.