Subject: CA - LIFE Lobby's Position on HIV Surveillance, Reporting and Testing
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 19:36:05 -0500 (EST)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 26, 1997
Contact:	Eric Astacaan, HIV/Healthcare Legislative Advocate
		Phone:  916-444-0424
		[email-masked] or [email-masked]

This past weekend, November 22nd and 23rd, the House of Delegates of LIFE:
 California's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and HIV/AIDS Lobby, met in
San Francisco.  The House of Delegates serves as the policy making body of
this organization.  At this meeting, the House of Delegates adopted the
attached position statement on HIV surveillance, reporting, and testing.

In summary, LIFE Lobby cautiously supports improving the monitoring of the
pandemic to include HIV case counting/surveillance with the proviso that data
gathered through this method must be provided to community planning bodies
for use in prevention, care planning and resource allocation.  Additionally,
LIFE Lobby vigorously opposes the reporting of HIV cases by name, but instead
support the use of systems that respect and protect both our public health
and people's confidentiality and privacy, such as those that use unique or
coded identifiers.  Finally, regardless of any change in the HIV/AIDS
surveillance, the option of accessible anonymous testing sites must be
supported and funded.

The position adopted by the House of Delegates will guide the public policy
agendas for this organization in 1998.  LIFE Lobby hopes that the discussion
surrounding any change in the national or state policy positions will include
a more inclusive community involvement.

If you have any questions, please give us a call at 916.444.0424.  Thank you.

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LIFE:  California's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,

Transgender and HIV/AIDS Lobby

POSITION ON HIV SURVEILLANCE, REPORTING AND TESTING

It has become increasingly true that, with the advent of new therapies,
people with HIV are progressing less often to an AIDS diagnosis. Therefore,
the primary manner in which the epidemic is currently monitored -- through
AIDS case counting -- has become less accurate in capturing the overall
picture of the prevalence of the epidemic. The AIDS community has long held a
position of opposition to HIV case reporting, particularly by name, due to a
well-founded and documented deterrent effect on the acceptance of HIV testing
because of the fear of AIDS-based discrimination. This concern continues to
date.  Recently, political pressure has substantially increased to
specifically create a federal name-based registry of people with HIV and
public health officials have called for development of a national standard of
state or locally based HIV reporting of names. We believe that community
involvement is essential in any discussion regarding the changing of national
policy positions. Thus, LIFE Lobby takes the following positions with regard
to the monitoring of the HIV epidemic:

1) 	HIV Surveillance

	After careful assessment of the need for reliable HIV data in order to
better track the epidemic, LIFE Lobby cautiously supports improving our AIDS
surveillance system by including HIV case counting/surveillance.  We do not
believe that any particular system of reporting is indicated by the science
of the epidemic.  Data gathered through HIV case reporting must be provided
to community planning bodies for use in prevention, care planning and
resource allocation.  However, the purpose of HIV surveillance and reporting
 is not to link individuals to treatment; HIV surveillance does not expand
access to treatment services. 

2) 	HIV Reporting

	LIFE Lobby vigorously opposes the reporting of HIV cases by name.  We do
not support efforts to develop a federal, state or local name-based registry
of people with HIV; we do not support changing the national standard with
regard to HIV name-based reporting; and we would not support the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in promoting name-based HIV reporting to
the states. Instead, we support the use of systems that respect and protect
confidentiality and privacy, such as those that use unique or coded
identifiers. HIV reporting does not automatically link individuals to
treatment services and the method of reporting does not determine linkage to
treatment.  Prior to the implementation by the states of any system of HIV
surveillance, significant and enforceable confidentiality and
anti-discrimination protections must be in place, including strong civil and
criminal penalties for breaches of confidentiality. The CDC must condition
HIV surveillance funding on the establishment and expansion of such state
laws. LIFE Lobby also supports the establishment of federal privacy and
anti-discrimination protections.

3) 	Anonymous Testing

	The option of accessible anonymous testing needs to be supported and funded
regardless of any change in our national system of HIV/AIDS surveillance.
Anonymous testing must be improved, expanded and available in all states and
localities. The CDC must actively encourage this option by mandating wide
availability of anonymous test sites as a condition of all HIV Prevention
Cooperative Agreements, particularly if any type of national HIV surveillance
is implemented.

4) 	HIV Counseling and Testing

	LIFE Lobby supports the encouragement of voluntary, non-coercive,
accessible HIV testing with informed consent, accompanied by client-centered,
culturally competent, risk reduction-oriented HIV prevention counseling
services in both public and private settings by individuals who are
professionally trained in HIV transmission and psycho-social issues.
Individuals should be linked to easily accessible, appropriate and adequately
funded systems of care through counseling and testing programs. We are adamant
 in our opposition to attempts at controlling the HIV epidemic through a
mandatory testing approach.

5) 	Partner Notification

	We support voluntary, confidential, non-coercive, client-centered partner
notification programs, with the utmost protection of privacy.  However,
partner notification must not be linked to any HIV surveillance system; HIV
surveillance will not in any way improve our partner notification efforts.

(Approved House of Delegates 11/97)

# # #

This message has been brought to you by LIFE:  California's Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender and HIV/AIDS Lobby.  LIFE has been lobbying on behalf
of California's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-affected
communities since 1986.  Our organization is the oldest and largest
institution representing these communities in California's State Capitol and
is proud to celebrate over a decade of service.  If you would like further
information about LIFE's activities, events or membership, please contact our
office at:

LIFE:  California's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & HIV/AIDS Lobby

1301 H Street

Sacramento, California  95814-1906

Phone:  916-444-0424	Fax:  916-444-3059

E-Mail:  [email-masked]	Website:  http://www.lifelobby.org