ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : A Key Step Against AIDS

The Orange County Board of Supervisors surprised everyone this week by unanimously approving--without even so much as a public discussion--the use of federal funds to distribute bleach kits to intravenous drug users.

The kits have been found useful in other areas in slowing the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS. Local health officials believe that the kits can make a difference here as well. Finally Orange County will have the chance to find out.

Of course, the kits, which are used to sterilize needles that might transmit the virus when shared, are just one tool in the battle against the deadly epidemic. So far more than 1,300 people in Orange County have died of AIDS. Of those, 12 were children--most born to mothers who had been injecting drugs. Many other children have been found to be carrying the virus. It was these that, in the end, swayed Supervisor Thomas F. Riley to vote for bleach kit distribution.

But human suffering isn’t the only reason to use every means possible to prevent the spread of AIDS. From a public policy standpoint, it is far preferable to prevent the disease than to end up paying the bills for those who cannot afford medical treatment or are not covered by private insurance.

Distributing bleach kits also can provide a way for public agencies to reach drug users and perhaps get them into treatment programs and educate them about AIDS prevention. Health officials estimate that there are 4,000 intravenous drug users in Orange County. That number is smaller than in most areas, but still sizable.

It would have been easy for the Board of Supervisors to duck the issue of bleach kits or even succumb to the demagoguery that has surrounded their use in some other areas. Instead, the board did the right thing in endorsing the $900,000 federal grant that includes funds for this important program.