PARIS β Because of an alarming rise in AIDS cases, French officials are considering reopening the government-sanctioned houses of prostitution that were a fixture of Parisian life until they were closed through the efforts of a crusading city councilwoman 44 years ago.
They would be modeled on the government-monitored Eros Centers found in West Germany. The ordinance was followed by an act of Parliament, the so-called Richard Law, that resulted in the closure of brothels all over France.
But there appear to be differences of opinion even among police officials. In the German system, the Eros Center women are subject to medical examination every 14 days and are required to use condoms for their protection and the protection of their customers. Unlike street prostitutes, they have almost no choice of customers. Lining up with Barzach, a maverick leader in the right-wing Gaullist party, was Bernard Kouchner, secretary of state for humanitarian action in the Socialist government.
According to recent statistics, France has more than 9, active cases of AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, including 4, in Paris and the surrounding Ile de France. An estimated , French men and women have tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, health officials say. French authorities have attempted to combat the epidemic with an unusually explicit advertising campaign encouraging the use of condoms.
Because the majority of AIDS victims are intravenous drug users, the city is trading disposable needles for used needles.
