"Policy Prescription for HIV"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"Policy Prescription for HIV"

American Medical News (04/28/97) Vol. 40, No. 16

Abstract: An editorial in American Medical News affirms the American Medical Association's support for the HIV Prevention Act of 1997, which enhances prevention and early detection through confidential reporting and contact tracing. According to the editorial, the bill, introduced by Rep. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), treats HIV infection as an issue of public health, not politics or political correctness. The increasingly effective treatments for HIV and AIDS suggest that the number of people living with disease will increase-- highlighting the need for containment through more accurate detection and contact tracing of the disease. For example, the editorial cites the belief among HIV experts that a full half of the 900,000 Americans estimated to be HIV-positive could be ignorant of their infection. The editors support other provisions of the bill, including HIV testing for sexual offenders, requirements that insurers notify applicants who test positive for HIV, and allowing physicians to test patients who are about to undergo high-risk procedures. While critics of the Coburn bill hold up privacy concerns, the editors assert that the ADA protects the rights of HIV-positive people in the workplace.

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