American Notes Aids

The State Department has long taken steps to ensure safe blood supplies for its employees stationed abroad. Where local blood banks operate below U.S. standards, embassy personnel depend on blood donated by their colleagues. To ensure the purity of this supply line, the State Department will begin requiring AIDS tests of its employees and their dependents in January. Those who test positive for the virus will be restricted to U.S. duty; also, the department will reject job applicants with positive results, thus in effect making the AIDS test part of the foreign-service examination. The policy, which is likely to be challenged in court, marks the first time a federal agency has ordered civilian employees to be tested for AIDS.