EDITORIAL\Boxing and AIDS\Morrison case illustrates the need for regular HIV testing in\California.ABOUT the only good thing to come out of last week's disclosure that boxer Tommy Morrison This article is about the American boxer. For other persons of the same name, see Tom Morrison (disambiguation). Tommy David Morrison (January 2, 1969, Jay, Oklahoma) is a heavyweight boxer, and the former World Boxing Organization champion. had tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS was the fact that it was disclosed at all. And the only reason that happened was because Morrison happened to be fighting in Nevada, one of only a handful of states that tests fighters for HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. . This might be soon changing, however. With word of Morrison's condition, legislatures in several states, including California, are considering measures to require HIV testing for fighters. Assemblyman as·sem·bly·man n. A man who is a member of a legislative assembly. assemblyman Noun pl -men a member of a legislative assembly Noun 1. William Hoge
William Hoge (brother of John Hoge) was born near Hogestown, Pennsylvania. , R-Pasadena, said last week that the bill he intends to introduce would require all professional boxers to take and pass an HIV test before they would be allowed to compete in the state. "Given the nature of boxing and frequency of cuts and injuries," said Hoge in a statement, "continuing not to test is playing with fire. Too many lives are at stake." It strikes us as a sensible proposal. The medical community generally views the odds of contracting HIV in the ring as extremely small - maybe one in 50 million or even one in a billion. But AIDS specialists are often uncomfortable with such numbers because, in truth, no one has a reliable gauge of the risks. And of all the contact sports, boxing is inherently the riskiest - what with blood routinely splattered splat·ter v. splat·tered, splat·ter·ing, splat·ters v.tr. To spatter (something), especially to soil with splashes of liquid. v.intr. about and, unlike other sports, no provision to stop the action and treat the wound. Morrison said at a news conference that he could have contracted the virus through bloody bouts, although in fairness there's been no evidence thus far to back up such speculation. Yet even assuming the long odds - Morrison was only the second of over 2,000 boxers to test positive in Nevada - there's nothing wrong with erring err intr.v. erred, err·ing, errs 1. To make an error or a mistake. 2. To violate accepted moral standards; sin. 3. Archaic To stray. on the conservative side. Given the horrific nature of AIDS, not to mention the low cost of administering the test, it's not unreasonable for states to insist on adding an extra safeguard. That professional athletes are often exposed to a frenetic fre·net·ic or phre·net·ic also fre·net·i·cal or phre·net·i·cal adj. Wildly excited or active; frantic; frenzied. [Middle English frenetik, from Old French frenetique and promiscuous lifestyle makes regular testing even more advised. There no doubt will be concerns raised about such a step: The intrusion into one's privacy, the ramifications ramifications npl → Auswirkungen pl about getting and holding onto insurance, and given the minimal risk involved, the need for such testing. But if Morrison's case proved anything, it's that those concerns simply don't outweigh the benefits. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion