Statement by Edward N. Brandt, Jr., M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health

PhotocopiCd at the Roaald PReagaf Libr 3,
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The grants, from the National Cancer Institute and the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, total
more than $2 million for the first year of research.
NCI has awarded grants to R. Gordon Douglas, M.D., of
Cornell Medical Center, New York; James Mullins, Ph.D.-, of
Harvard University; Frederick Siegel, M.D., of Mt. Sinai
Medical Center in New York; and Paul Volberding, M.D., of the
University of California at San Francisco.
The awards from NIAID were made to Arye Rubenstein, M.D.,
of Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York, and John Fahey, M.D.,
University of California at Los Angeles.
These awards are being made from research proposals
submitted in response to a 1982 Request for Applications issued
by NCI to stimulate studies on AIDS. On May 20, NIH published
a new Request for Applications for additional research on AIDS,
and we welcome new grant proposals.
Much has also been accomplished in the area of prevention.
On March 4, I issued interim recommendations to the public
designed to reduce the risk of acquiring AIDS, recommendations
which bear repeating today:
o Sexual contact should be avoided with persons known or
suspected of having AIDS
o Members of groups at increased risk for AIDS should
refrain from donating plasma and/or-blood products

o Studies should be conducted to evaluate screening
procedures for their effectiveness in identifying and
excluding plasma and blood with a high probability of
transmitting AIDS

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