Discrimination against People with AIDS

Abstract

ON June 2, 1988, Retired Admiral James D. Watkins, chairman of the President's Commission on AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), called for a federal law barring discrimination against those who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). As he envisioned the law, the federal statutes now designed to protect the rights of the disabled and the handicapped would be expanded to prohibit discrimination against persons infected with HIV. 1 In his press conference, Watkins stated that the threat of discrimination is “the most significant obstacle to progress” against the epidemic. “If the nation does not address this issue squarely,” he said,. © 1988, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.