Re “An Outbreak Fed by Misinformation and Fear” (front page, May 6):

It is sad to read that many of the lessons we learned at the epicenters of the H.I.V.-AIDS epidemic more than 25 years ago need to be relearned in containing the outbreak of new H.I.V. cases in Indiana.

The urgency at that time led us to lowering the threshold to programs for injecting drug users so we could quickly engage them rather than put them on waiting lists that further endangered them and others.

The H.I.V.-AIDS outbreak in Indiana should be a reminder to Congress, as it debates reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act, that the best way to prevent outbreaks like this is to engage and maintain drug users with H.I.V.-AIDS and hepatitis, and those at high risk for infection, in peer-led education and support programs proved to be effective.

HOWARD JOSEPHER

New York

The writer is president and chief executive of Exponents, a group that helps people affected by drug addiction, incarceration and H.I.V.-AIDS. It receives funding under the Ryan White law.