New Yorkers living “high-risk” lifestyles for HIV are still willing to be tested for HIV after the state enacted a law that requires the names of people who test positive to be reported to the state.
According to a study in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health, many people were actually unaware of the law, which was enacted in 2000. Previously, the state required only the names of people who received AIDS diagnoses to be reported.
Researchers from the Department of Health’s AIDS Institute at the institute discovered that only a quarter of study participants actually knew that positive test results are reported by name (unless the test is taken anonymously).
However, the researchers also found that only 5 percent of the participants showed concern about the name reporting, citing it as a potential reason for avoiding or delaying getting tested.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
