This article deals with a law that passed in the State of New York, mandating health providers to report the names of persons diagnosed with HIV-related disease and AIDS and notify their “partners”. In June of 1998, the New York State Legislature voted to include this “health policy” as part of the Public Health Law. The term "partner" refers to the sex and/or needle-sharing partners of someone with a communicable disease. This inclusion stirred much debate as over 300 sets of comments were sent to the Governor of the State of New York, but upon revision, the law was signed by the Governor and an implementation date was set for June 1, 2000.
The present article describes the views of the supporters and opponents of such a health policy and highlights how both views use scientific, ethical and historical rationales to support their respective logic. It is concluded that neither the view that supports mandatory name reporting and partner notification, nor the view that supports the “voluntary” version of such a policy, is warranted. Instead, it is argued that anonymous testing and frank AIDS education are the best ways to control the epidemic, to bring people with HIV/AIDS into the healthcare system, and to educate the others who might be at risk of HIV infection. {{(...)}}
{{Gilbert ELBAZ}}
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