"AMA Body Urges Increased HIV Testing"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"AMA Body Urges Increased HIV Testing"

Gay Community News (12/16-22/90) Vol. 18, No. 22, P. 1
Briggs, Laura

Abstract: The American Medical Association's (AMA) House of Delegates voted Dec. 5 to reclassify AIDS as a sexually-transmitted disease, which would make HIV infection eligible for contact tracing by state health departments and mandate reporting of names in many states. The resolutions, which urge contact tracing and would allow HIV testing of patients without informed consent, were referred to the Board of Trustees for further study and will be taken up again at the AMA's general meeting in June. Many AIDS activists say voluntary contact tracing could be useful, but mandatory tracing would be harmful. The AMA opposed mandatory reporting and contact tracing early in the epidemic. The switch is due to hysteria and paranoia in the medical profession, according to some activists. Others say the AMA proposals are already in place in many states, and that the AMA general membership is unlikely to ratify the non-consensual testing measures, which might lead to testing of physicians.

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