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Compiled by GayToday
New York--More than 60 leading AIDS and civil rights
organizations and health care providers for people with HIV jointly warned
federal and state health officials against efforts to require the names of
people who have HIV, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund said Sunday.
Lambda AIDS Project Director Catherine Hanssens said, "Key fighters in the battle against AIDS, particularly physicians and service providers who understand the impact of public policies on patients, have lined up to warn against this agenda. Mandatory names reporting is bad science, bad public health policy, and a waste of funds that should be directed to real AIDS prevention and health care."
The joint statement--a strongly worded open letter circulated by Lambda-- was released as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers guidelines encouraging states to collect the names of those who test positive for HIV, despite clear signs that such reporting systems lead to inaccurate data about the extent of the epidemic while they also discourage people from getting tested. Nonetheless, amid fears of losing federal funding, the majority of states already have adopted such requirements. Referring to the proposed guidelines, Hanssens said, "This emperor has no clothes. The names- reporting guidelines may reflect current fashion, but that doesn't make it good science, and on that basis, the CDC's proposal is a sham." The warning was issued by health and public policy groups and prominent physicians such as: San Francisco Department of Public Health AIDS Office International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care National Minority AIDS Council National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Organization Adolescent HIV Clinic/SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center Harvard AIDS Institute/Leading for Life Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force AIDS Action Gay Men's Health Crisis AIDS Project Los Angeles San Francisco AIDS Foundation American Civil Liberties Union AIDS Project Illinois Federation for Human Rights United Federation of Teachers Dr. Joseph A. Sonnabend, co-founder of the American Foundation for AIDS Research Among its key points, the letter warned: Names reporting will yield faulty data and cannot be relied upon to measure the HIV epidemic. Names reporting engenders fear that discourages testing and creates more barriers to health care. Options for anonymous testing must be truly available. Government support for HIV education and prevention programs must increase among communities known to have high rates of infection; public health officials at both the state and federal levels must become vocal and visible in opposing government restrictions on effective school and community-based prevention programs. Additionally, the groups affirmed the need for gathering epidemiological information through methods that do not compromise the privacy rights of people with HIV. They also urged public health officials to use the abundant data already available to improve prevention and treatment programs for at- risk groups like young people and intravenous drug users.
Voicing the frustration of many signatories, Hanssens added, "Just this week, the New York City Health Department reported that a major study found nearly 20 percent of young African-American men surveyed in the city were HIV positive. Here is an example of where prevention resources are needed. Yet, the recently proposed New York state budget would slash millions of dollars from AIDS treatment and service programs, while redirecting more than $4-million to implement the state's new HIV surveillance and partner notification law." |
