MRS. HECKLER LISTS ADDED AIDS FUNDS
By WILLIAM E. SCHMIDT, SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: June 15, 1983

The Secretary of Health and Human Services today defended the Reagan Administration's efforts to find the cause and cure of the deadly acquired immune deficiency syndrome disease, or AIDS, describing it as the nation's No. 1 health priority.

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''For the overwhelming majority of Americans, there appears to be little or no risk of falling victim to this disease, in particular, through normal, daily social contacts,'' Mrs. Heckler said.

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Mrs. Heckler said the disease was a plague only for those already ''at high risk.'' ''It is not a plague that will threaten the lives of all Americans,'' she said. ''The panic that has developed in the American public is totally unwarranted.''

More than 1,500 people have the disease, many of them homosexuals in the nation's largest cities, including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Mrs. Heckler said four or five new cases were reported each day and that the number of victims might double every six months.

The disease, which kills 80 percent of its victims within two years of diagnosis, has so far been blamed for 595 deaths....

Some delegates to the conference said they were pleased with what Mrs. Heckler had to say. Mayor Dianne Feinstein of San Francisco, chairman of an 11-city study group on the disease, said Mrs. Heckler's remarks proved that she ''is fully committed to putting all available resources'' behind the fight to conquer AIDS.