FP Report -- November 1998 
While protecting confidentiality, states should notify partners of persons with HIV.
AAFP President Lanny Copeland, M.D., delivered that message Sept. 29 to a congressional panel.
"We believe there is a moral obligation to inform the partners of an HIV-infected patient that they have been exposed to the disease so they can get appropriate follow-up care and other support services as soon as possible," said Copeland.
"According to recent research in New York, 10 percent or fewer of people testing positive for HIV actually inform their partners," Copeland told the health and environment subcommittee of the House Commerce Committee.
Federal law already requires that spouses be notified. H.R. 4431, the HIV Partner Protection Act, would require all states to set up programs to contact others who may have been infected through sex or shared needles.
The bill, which probably will still be under consideration by Congress next year, contains these points:
- People with HIV would be asked to volunteer the names of their partners.
- Physicians and/or people with HIV could notify the partners.
- States would set up programs to contact and counsel the partners and offer referrals for HIV testing.
- Health professionals would suffer no penalties if, in good faith, they made errors in identifying partners.
- States could notify partners without the express consent of HIV-infected persons.
- State laws should prohibit insurers from discriminating against people tested for HIV. "HIV and AIDS do not distinguish between health plans," said Copeland. "Everyone should benefit from the same anti-discrimination protection."
Many states use name-based reporting, similar to that proposed in H.R. 4431. But some states allow anonymous testing, coding names by a unique identifier (such as a number). Copeland suggested changing the bill so it allowed states flexibility in protecting confidentiality.
HIV and AIDS have afflicted family physicians' patients since the epidemic began nearly 20 years ago, said Copeland, who practices in Albany, Ga. "This disease is affecting our patients who are newborns, school children, married adults, senior citizens, homosexual and bisexual, and illicit drug users. It knows no boundaries."
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department. Copyright © 1998 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
FP Report | Headlines |AAFP Home | Search