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.

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