Title
Urging the City of Philadelphia and the State of Pennsylvania to support and utilize a non name-based surveillance systems of HIV reporting and, if needed, for the City of Philadelphia to not comply with a proposed name based HIV reporting system.
Body
WHEREAS, Non name-based surveillance systems, such as unique identifier reporting, support our public health goals by providing data which can help us allocate limited resources while supporting efforts to target and evaluate prevention programs, project the direction of the epidemic, while assuring anonymity and not deterring people from seeking HIV testing and care; and
WHEREAS, The state administration has proposed mandatory state wide name based reporting for HIV positive individuals and in the absence of guaranteed access to health care and strong privacy protections, the negative aspects of name reporting outweigh the potential benefits of this approach; and
WHEREAS, HIV name reporting has been shown to be a deterrent to individuals seeking HIV testing and treatment, and the implementation of HIV name reporting is not currently accompanied by guaranteed access to care and treatment; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia's refusal to comply with the names based HIV reporting will apply pressure upon the State to rethink their HIV surveillance proposal and develop a plan consistent with the pronounced needs of its citizens; and
WHEREAS, Throughout Pennsylvania, citizens who submit to HIV testing should be entitled to anonymity. The consequences of a consumer's HIV status becoming public should be a concern to all citizens of Philadelphia. Rural, Suburban and Urban Pennsylvanians could all face physical and emotional harm if their status became publicly known; and
WHEREAS, It is paramount that concerned citizens have access to HIV testing without any unnecessary impediments or delays. Early detection of HIV leads to more effective prevention strategies and treatment possibilities. Studies have s...
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