San Francisco Relaxes HIV Test Rules

SAN FRANCISCO (May 17) - City-run medical clinics will no longer require written consent and counseling sessions before testing people for HIV in a bid to increase the number of people screened for the virus, officials said Wednesday.

The city, at the forefront of the AIDS fight, becomes the first known entity in the U.S. to formally loosen consent and counseling requirements. The new policy was implemented Tuesday in the city clinics and two hospitals that test patients. Last year, 240 people tested positive out of the 6,000 tested in San Francisco.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is contemplating making similar recommendations. The aim is to expand testing to find as many as 250,000 of the 1 million Americans with HIV who don't know they are infected and are most responsible for the spread of the virus.

San Francisco doctors will now be required to get only verbal patient permission for testing, lessening paperwork and burdensome bureaucracy.

"We hope others follow this common sense approach," said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, director of the city's sexually transmitted disease prevention.

Many AIDS activists and other critics, however, fear the changes could lead to patient privacy abuses. Also, the lack of counseling might mean more people who test positive would fail to seek treatment.

"Unfortunately, HIV follows women of color and HIV follows poverty," said Diana Bruce of the Washington-based AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families. "This population needs testing that is culturally competent, that builds their trust," and of which they have been informed in writing.

Dana Van Gorder of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation supports streamlining the testing process.

The city's General Hospital "has provided model care for HIV throughout the epidemic and I trust them to making good decisions about these changes," Van Gorder said in an e-mail.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. 05/17/06 21:45 EDT

Good for them. The idea that one can't receive medical treatment without the receiving the proper 'counseling' is an idea that is far too prevalent in the medical community. It guarantees full-employment for the counselors and makes busy people who can't spare the time for 'counseling' bypass treatment. AIDS 'counseling' is the tip of the iceberg of medical busywork forced upon society by do-gooding busybodies.

""Unfortunately, HIV follows women of color and HIV follows poverty," said Diana Bruce of the Washington-based AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families. "This population needs testing that is culturally competent, that builds their trust," and of which they have been informed in writing."

Say what? HIV is Human Immunodeficiency Virus Diana. It's not Immunodiscrimination Virus. It doesn't know who it infects whether color, rich, poor, gender or otherwise. Testing that is culturally competent....what the hell does that mean.....you must not give a higher number of positive HIV results between races, gender, sexual orientation? It's because of these political correct stupidities that this virus has spread so rapidly and so wide. The only reason why the laws are being loosened in San Fran is because there appears to be a declining population there and it's not because people are moving away.......there moving "underground"....if you get my drift.....

"Unfortunately, HIV follows women of color and HIV follows poverty," said Diana Bruce of the Washington-based AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families. "This population needs testing that is culturally competent, that builds their trust," and of which they have been informed in writing.

I was just thinking that someone needed to pull the race and sex cards on this topic! I guess Diana Bruce who works for the AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families has never studied AIDS. Or she is lying. AIDS hits men at three times the rate of women. The most dangerous category: black homosexual. It is interesting that she could have used the race card without saying one lie, but she instead decided that there was also some type of sexist plot as well.

Correction: The most dangerous category: black homosexual *male*. Now that I think of it she could have also thrown in the gay card. I wonder why she didn't. Or the abortion card? Or whatever other type of discrimination that leftists think conservatives use to try to murder them.

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