Officials, Providers at Odds on HIV Test

Ofelia Barrios, director of HIV/AIDS services with the Harlem Directors Group, listens during an interview in New York, Thursday June 1, 2006. Barrios objects to a proposal by New York City health officials to abolish a requirement in New York for separate written consent for an HIV test, making it easier for public health officials to share information about patients. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) (Bebeto Matthews - AP)

New York's HIV laws were written at a time when there was no effective treatment for AIDS and the disease was associated with a group, gay men, already facing discrimination. People with AIDS feared that if they disclosed their diagnosis they would lose jobs, homes, families.

There is still no cure for AIDS, but antiretroviral medications can make it a manageable condition for many patients _ if they learn their HIV status and take the drugs.

State Sen. Tom Duane, the New York State Legislature's only openly HIV-positive member, said Frieden underestimates the persistence of AIDS stigma.

"People do not lose their jobs if their employer finds out that they have high cholesterol," he said. "Dr. Frieden may live in a world where the stigma's less. ... He needs to come visit a trailer park with me, where people with HIV are living, to find out what their lives are like."

Frieden's proposed changes will face an uphill fight in the Legislature, where he expects them to be formally introduced in the next few weeks. Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, chairman of the Health Committee, said he would be surprised if there is action taken on the bill this session.

Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn, a veteran of past HIV battles, said, "My point was always, let's treat it as we treat any other disease. When the patient goes into the office for a routine checkup, let HIV be included in the test without any extra forms to fill out, without going through the hassle."

In 1996, Mayersohn authored the Baby AIDS bill, which required that either a pregnant woman get tested or that her baby be tested at birth. Prior to its enactment, newborns in New York were tested for HIV exposure but only for statistical purposes. Their parents were not given the results. Now, HIV-exposed infants are offered medical care.

Many groups opposing Frieden's plan fought the newborn bill, arguing it amounted to an involuntary HIV test on the mother, since a positive result meant that the mother had the virus, too.

Dennis deLeon, the president of the Latino Commission on AIDS, said he regrets his earlier opposition.

"We have to rethink how we approach testing," he said. "There is stigma around TB. There is stigma around gonorrhea. ... The way you address stigma is to make the testing routine and integrate it across the board. I just don't want to make the same mistake again."