The year in HIV legislation
Posted December 30th, 2011 – Policy Updates
2011 saw quite a few positive steps in the fight against HIV/AIDS with the signing of six HIV-related bills. In terms of HIV Prevention, four bills were signed into law by Governor Brown. These include SB 41, AB 604, AB 1382 and SB 422.
Earlier this year, DAP applauded the inclusion of SB 41 (Yee) into state law , which authorizes the pharmacy sale of syringes to adults. Numerous federal and international studies have repeatedly shown that increased access to sterile syringes lowers HIV transmission rates—without seeing a spike in crime or drug use.
Related to SB41, AB 604 (Skinner), allows the California Department of Public Health to authorize syringe exchange programs where the conditions exist for the rapid spread of viral hepatitis, HIV, or other potentially deadly diseases. This is a vital bill for our community, as the prevalence of HIV in our immediate area is four times greater than the national benchmark.
AB 1382, authored by assembly member Hernandez, allows HIV test counselors that are currently certified to perform HIV tests waived under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) to also administer two extra FDA-approved tests. The two tests include one for the hepatitis c virus (HCV) and a two-fold combination test that checks for HIV and HCV.
Rounding out the bills focused on HIV Prevention is SB 422 (Wright). The bill permits physicians to notify local health department Partner Services (PS) staff of an HIV-positive patient and with the patient’s written consent allows patient contact information for follow-up. In addition, this law also allows PS staff to make partner notifications to people believed to be a spouse, sexual, or needle-sharing partner while withholding any identifying information about the HIV-positive person or the physician.
Two more bills were signed into law this year that focused on HIV monitoring. SB 946, authored by senators Steinberg and Evans, and AB 1088, authored by assembly member Eng.
SB 946, which was recently revised, allows the Office of Aids (OA) to make changes to the HIV/AIDS case report form without amending the California Code of Regulations. Effectively, this law will enable OA to facilitate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HIV/AIDS reporting guidance and enable more efficient and accurate HIV/AIDS case reporting.
In keeping touch with the demographics of the HIV/AIDS crisis, AB 1088 requires OA to add major Asian and Pacific Islander categories to HIV/AIDS reporting data, HIV care data and HIV Prevention data.
So far, these new laws are good steps in the fight against HIV/AIDS. But this year also saw the federal government take a step back by reinstating the ban on using federal funding for syringe exchange programs. As noted earlier, syringe exchange programs greatly reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and other infectious diseases. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, the reinstatement of this ban “will lead to thousands of new HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C cases annually”. We hope that the new year brings more policies into place that will help to eradicate this chronic illness.
