Reuters (03/10/95)
On Friday, NBC News reported that the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) is ready to lower its estimate of
the number of HIV-infected Americans by 20 percent. For the
last five years, the government has said that nearly 1 million
people in the country were infected with the virus that causes
AIDS. NBC, however, said it had learned that the CDC "is
preparing to admit that figure is wrong, much too high." The
network said the CDC's old estimate from 1989 was a range from
800,000 to 1.2 million, but quoted unidentified government
officials as saying the new estimate would be from 600,000 to
1 million. The government delayed publication of the new
estimates because officials were concerned about the reaction
of those in Congress who might want to cut the budget for AIDS
research and care, NBC said.