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• <br /> 0 47 <br /> the incubation period for AIDS, that is , the time from <br /> infection with the AIDS virus to symptoms of disease, can be <br /> 7 years or longer . It is likely that some people who develop <br /> this disease in their twenties become infected in their <br /> teens . Second, the behaviors that place people at risk for <br /> AIDS are related to sex and drugs . It is during adolescence <br /> that many young people begin exploring their sexuality and <br /> experimenting with drugs . It is essential that young people <br /> have good information when establishing habits related to sex <br /> and drug practices . <br /> There is a growing body of evidence that AIDS education <br /> can have an impact on the behaviors that place people at risk <br /> for contracting or transmitting AIDS. In San Francisco where <br /> the gay community has been blanketed with information about <br /> AIDS and where a number of innovative, community-based <br /> eduction projects have been implemented, the vast majority of <br /> gay men surveyed indicate that they have altered their sexual <br /> practices to reduce their risk of AIDS. In a number of <br /> cities (e.g. , Denver , Los Angeles . and San Francisco) the <br /> rate of rectal gonorrhea, a disease seen almost exclusively <br /> in gay men, has dropped 50 to 90% in the last five years. <br /> indicating remarkable changes in behavior . As for <br /> intravenous drug use, studies in New York City indicate that <br /> even among those users unwilling to stop injecting drugs <br /> there is substantial concern about AIDS and interest in <br /> methods of risk reduction. And in New Jersey, when 1 ,000 <br /> discount coupons for drug treatment programs were distributed <br /> with AIDS information at "shooting galleries" and other drug <br /> hang-outs, 86% of the vouchers were redeemed within 2 months . <br /> Efforts to control the spread of any communicable disease <br /> must target those at highest risk for contracting or <br /> transmitting the disease. People of color in North Carolina <br /> have been disproportionately affected by AIDS and warrant . <br /> special educational efforts. To save the greatest number of <br /> lives within minority communities attention should focus on <br /> the following groups: <br /> * men who have sex with other men <br /> * intravenous drug users <br /> . . <br /> * women of child-bearing age <br /> * adolescents establishing attitudes and practices <br /> concerning sex and drugs <br /> • <br /> • <br /> R_ <br />