AIDS
Although the number of AIDS cases remained small by international standards, public health officials were concerned in the late 1980s about the worldwide epidemic of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The first confirmed case of AIDS in Japan was reported in 1985. By 1991 there were 553 reported cases, and by April 1992 the number had risen to 2,077. While frightened by the deadliness of the disease yet sympathetic to the plight of hemophiliac AIDS patients, most Japanese are unconcerned with contracting AIDS themselves. Various levels of government responded to the introduction of AIDS awareness into the heterosexual population by establishing government committees, mandating AIDS education, and advising testing for the general public without targeting special groups. A fund, underwritten by pharmaceutical companies that distributed imported blood products, was established in 1988 to provide financial compensation for AIDS patients.
Read more about this topic: Health In Japan
Famous quotes containing the word aids:
“The issue is a mighty one for all people and all time; and whoever aids the right, will be appreciated and remembered.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“Nothing aids which may not also injure us.
Fire serves us well, but he who plots to burn
His neighbor’s roof arms his hands with fire.”
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
“Sometimes I have a terrible feeling that I am dying not from the virus, but from being untouchable.”
—Amanda Heggs, British AIDS sufferer. Quoted in Guardian (London, June 12, 1989)