THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Tuesday, July 12, 1994 TAG: 9407120339 SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL SOURCE: BY JIM STRATTON, NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
After traveling to Atlanta to meet with federal officials, a state appointee to an AIDS prevention committee was unexpectedly told Monday by the Allen administration not to attend the meeting.
State officials couldn't explain the urgency with which Russ Webb was recalled, but they did say the governor wanted to make sure the committee Webb is part of reflects the administration's views on AIDS prevention and education.
The decision to cancel the meeting with officials from the Centers for Disease Control has left local AIDS agencies worried the state's CDC funding for AIDS prevention and education might be in jeopardy. That funding amounts to about $3 million annually.
``It looks like a symbol,'' said Donna Dittman Hale, executive director of the Peninsula AIDS Foundation. ``There is some concern that this might signal the governor is backing away from CDC funding.''
Strategies for preventing AIDS often include controversial ideas, such as condom distribution and frank discussions about sex practices less likely to spread the disease, Hale said. The governor, a conservative who has touted traditional family values, might find it unacceptable for a state-appointed committee to promote those sorts of ideas, she said.
Giles Norrington, former director of the Tidewater AIDS Crisis Taskforce, was more forceful.
``The word coming out of Richmond'' is that programs that ``don't align themselves with some fundamental religious and political principles might not get funded,'' Norrington said.
Asked if the governor might have a problem with the committee, Elaine Martin, the state health department's coordinator of AIDS education, said, ``Yes, that's my understanding.'' Calls to the offices of both Allen and Secretary of Health and Human Resources Kay Coles James were not returned Monday. Calls to Webb's hotel room in Atlanta also were not returned. by CNB