Foolish testing

Press, 27 February 1989, Page 20

Foolish testing

THE first results are in on mandatory A.I.D.S. testing, and they vindicate the sceptics who say it is a foolish, hysterical response to a serious problem. For a year, Illinois has had a law requiring couple to be tested for the virus before they can get married. In 155,458 premarriage tests during 1988, only 26 people were identified as being infected. That is fewer than two-hundredths of a percent of those who took the mandatory test, and only 3 per cent of new A.1.D.5.-carrier identifications in Illinois last year. The biggest beneficiaries of the law appear to be the border towns of next-door Wisconsin. Places like Kenosha have been receiving a steady stream of the nuptially minded who wish to avoid the SUS3O to SUSI2S AJ.D.S.-testing fee. It is not surprising that the number of infected people proved to be so low among those engaged to be married. Heterosexuals with middle-class

values — the vast majority, presumably, of Illinois’s engaged couples — are not a prominent A.I.D.S. risk group. Illinois lawmakers are considering repeal of the law, which cost those getting married there about SUSS.4 million. That is almost $U5250,000 for each victim identified.