Captain Street,

xx As the fourth-largest city in the United States, Houston faces a serious health threat from hepatitis C, and the city should take an active role in public education and research to limit this risk, contends Dr. Joseph S. Galati of the University of Texas Health Science Center. In a commentary in the Houston Chronicle, Galati points out that hepatitis C kills about 4 million Americans a year and cost Americans over $600 million in medical care and lost wages in 1992 alone. In conclusion, Galati urges heightened public education about the disease, as well as about the risk factors for contracting and spreading the virus. "Back to the Baths" Advocate (04/01/97) No. 730, P. 51; Quinn, Dan The opening of two gay bathhouses in Austin, TX, has prompted a debate among AIDS activists that is expected to reach other midsize cities as more bathhouses open across the country. AIDS activists who oppose the bathhouses say they provide an easy way for men who are having difficulty confronting their sexuality to make unsafe sexual choices, and that they could reverse the behavior changes that many gay men adopted as a result of the AIDS epidemic. AIDS educators in favor of the bathhouses say they can help promote safer sex education by providing a place to reach gay men, especially those who are hiding their sexuality. As the fourth-largest city in the United States, Houston faces a serious health threat from hepatitis C, and the city should take an active role in public education and research to limit this risk, contends Dr. Joseph S. Galati of the University of Texas Health Science Center. In a commentary in the Houston Chronicle, Galati points out that hepatitis C kills about 4 million Americans a year and cost Americans over $600 million in medical care and lost wages in 1992 alone. In conclusion, Galati urges heightened public education about the disease, as well as about the risk factors for contracting and spreading the virus. "Back to the Baths" Advocate (04/01/97) No. 730, P. 51; Quinn, Dan The opening of two gay bathhouses in Austin, TX, has prompted a debate among AIDS activists that is expected to reach other midsize cities as more bathhouses open across the country. AIDS activists who oppose the bathhouses say they provide an easy way for men who are having difficulty confronting their sexuality to make unsafe sexual choices, and that they could reverse the behavior changes that many gay men adopted as a result of the AIDS epidemic. AIDS educators in favor of the bathhouses say they can help promote safer sex education by providing a place to reach gay men, especially those who are hiding their sexuality.