Red Cross May Tone Down Its AIDS Materials
WASHINGTON — The Red Cross hopes to temper instructional materials in an AIDS education program after its president, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, raised concerns that the leaflets, posters and videotapes were too explicit.
Norman R. Augustine, chairman of the Red Cross, said Mrs. Dole shared with him “only in her personal capacity†questions about materials to accompany an expanded training program for instructors who teach AIDS prevention.
Augustine said he appointed a task force to review the materials because Mrs. Dole didn’t want it to appear that politics played a role in the Red Cross’ decision. Mrs. Dole’s husband, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, is courting conservatives in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
“This was a nonpolitical issue,†said Augustine, who is also chairman of Lockheed Martin. “It’s an issue that concerns the responsibility of the Red Cross to carry out a responsible HIV-AIDS program and to do it in a manner that is not offensive to large segments of the public.â€
Dole’s campaign also denied any link between the AIDS program and the campaign.
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