Americans need to be more open about addressing issues of sex and AIDS, National AIDS Policy Coordinator Christine Gebbi told students at the Kennedy School of Government yesterday.

"Our goal is clear," she said, "Young people shouldn't be dying."

Gebbi, who was named the nation's top AIDS official by President Clinton last July, fielded questions for an hour about her new position, the direction of the government in fighting AIDS, and attempts to coordinate national AIDS efforts.

Introduced to the students as the nation's first "AIDS Czar," Gebbi called upon Americans to "open up the national debate (about AIDS) so that people will be more comfortable with it."

Gebbi said she hopes to set up national policy which "will trickle down to local levels," and provide a framework for coordinating local programs.

Such local programs are currently bogged down in inefficient national legislation, Gebbi said.

Gebbi said she is trying to coordinate federal efforts in order to prevent overlap between local and federal agencies and between different federal departments that often address the same problems.

"We're working to combine [the National Institutes of Health and Housing and Urban Development]," she said. "So often they're dealing with the same population...We're just trying to get everyone to sit in the sameroom."

In addition, Gebbi said she must also begin todefine the priorities of her newly created office."We can't stop investing in research fortherapeutics (and prevention)," she said.

Down the road, she said, her office willdefinitely target HIV infections among minorities.

Pointing to the fact that AIDS preventionfunding is staggering, Gebbi called upon Americansto view this disease as they do cancer anddiabetes, and to discard any misleading imagesthey have about AIDS.

She praised corporate funding for AIDSresearch, but encouraged Fortune 500 companies andunions to be less timid about involving themselvesin community AIDS programs.

In addition, Gebbi said she hopes churches willbecome more involved in fighting AIDS.

A trained nurse and former head of Oregonstate's health council, Gebbi stirred controversyin the national media last week by stating that"America needs to get over its Victorian images ofsex" and openly address this topic.

The event was sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian,Bisexual Caucus and the Health, Education, Laborand Poverty Council