The Nation - News from July 12, 1987

Although the AIDS epidemic in America is still largely confined to drug addicts, male homosexuals and their sexual partners, the public favors testing a wide variety of groups for possible infection. Two-thirds or more respondents in a Gallup Poll favor AIDS testing for immigrants applying for permanent residence, inmates of federal prisons, members of the armed forces, couples planning to marry and foreign visitors. Most favor taking steps to avoid the disease, including not associating with suspected victims (43%), avoiding elective surgery that would require blood transfusions (42%) and banking one’s own blood (42%).