Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - Friday, August 20, 1999
Derrill Holly - Associated Press Writer
"It's clear to me that we have an epidemic," Mayor Anthony A. Williams, said at a news conference.
AIDS is the leading cause of death among district residents between ages 25 and 44. According to the city's Department of Health, the rate of new human immunodeficiency virus infections per 100,000 population was 186 in the district -- more than nine times the national average.
"HIV infection is spreading to more and more of our young people as well as spreading very, very fiercely in our Latino community," Williams told AIDS activists at a nonprofit health clinic that serves primarily Hispanics.
The "unique identifier" system allows a public health agency to develop a database that includes, racial, ethnic, gender and geographical information on each patient.
Doctors, hospitals and clinics would use coded information to designate each patient but their name would remain in the confidential records of individual health care providers.
Since 1994, Maryland and Texas have used a 12-digit number that includes portions of a person's Social Security number, date of birth and other digits to represent gender and race.
Although new HIV infections in the district are declining among gay men, the rate of new infections continues to grow among young people, African-American women and heterosexuals. Officials hope to have a reporting system operating within a year.
Since 1997, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked all states to conduct HIV tracking as an extension of their AIDS surveillance programs. Names tracking has provided more reliable data than coded methods because of incomplete coding information, according to the CDC.
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