HIV Name Reporting to be Implemented in California

After years of debate and controversy, the California State Senate unanimously approved legislation on January 19, 2006, requiring that HIVpositive people be reported by name to local health authorities. As this issue of OUTReach goes to press, that bill--SB 699 by Senator Nell Soto--is pending in the State Assembly, where it is expected to pass easily. Governor Schwarzenegger is expected to sign it into law once it reaches his desk.

Currently, Californians who are diagnosed with AIDS are reported to the state by name, but HIV-positive people who do not have AIDS are reported using a code (also called a unique identifier). SB 699 will give the state one year to issue regulations needed to implement the new system. This means that the names of HIV-positive Californians will begin to be reported sometime during the first six months of 2007.

Acknowledging that California's code-based system has been difficult and costly to implement and recognizing that the state risks losing federal AIDS funding if it does not change its HIV reporting system, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation reevaluated its position late last year and agreed to support the name reporting legislation if certain provisions were included in the bill. In particular, the AIDS Foundation worked to ensure that SB 699 guarantees continued access to anonymous testing throughout the state for those who want to learn their HIV status without the fear of being reported to public health authorities. (It is important to note, however, that once HIV-positive people access HIV care from a medical provider, their names will be reported at that time.) SB 699 also includes provisions that guarantee the highest degree of confidentiality of namedbased HIV data and significant financial penalties for inappropriate disclosure of that information.

Fortunately, public health reporting by name has been in place for many years for over 80 other communicable diseases--including AIDS--and California has an excellent track record of successfully protecting this confidential information. Only a relatively small number of public health officials have access to these lists; employers and insurance companies do not. Under SB 699, the names of HIV-positive Californians will be reported to the county in which they live and to the state; the federal government, however, will only receive a code for each HIVpositive individual, not their actual name. Over 40 other states have enacted name-based HIV reporting systems.

"We are confident that SB 699 will assist California in the fight against HIV/AIDS and will not undermine our efforts to encourage HIV testing or to protect the medical privacy and civil rights of HIV infected individuals," said Mark Cloutier executive director of the AIDS Foundation. "Not only will this legislation keep the state from losing millions in federal AIDS funding, but it will ease the ability of localities to collect information about the epidemic, providing us with valid, uniform data for service and prevention planning."