LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
yesterday signed a cost saving bill intended to jumpstart a stalled "rapid"
HIV testing program in California. The bill -- Assembly Bill 685 (Assemblyman
Mark Leno, D, San Francisco) which was sponsored by AIDS Healthcare Foundation
(AHF), the largest AIDS group in the US, streamlines training for HIV testing
counselors -- was among the first bills to land on the new governor's desk.
It cleared the Assembly unanimously last week with a 77 to 0 vote, and was
signed late Wednesday afternoon in Sacramento by the governor.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030429/AHFLOGO )
"We thank Assemblyman Mark Leno for introducing and carefully shepherding
AB 685 and Governor Schwarzenegger for his quick signature on this important
bill," said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the
largest AIDS group in the US which operates AIDS clinics in the US, Africa and
Central America. "Now, counselors will not have to take two distinct
trainings -- one on HIV counseling and one on drawing blood -- but instead
will have one comprehensive program that will save time and money."
"As the official sponsor of this bill, AIDS Healthcare Foundation is
excited that more Californians will now be able to know their HIV status,"
said Karen Mall, Director of Prevention for AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which
operates the largest alternative testing program in California, providing more
than 13,000 tests annually. "Despite federal approval last year of new
technology, few Californians have access to the twenty-minute HIV test results
because few programs could offer it. AB 685 enables more sites throughout the
state to provide the test and the result in the same counseling session. This
will help break the chain of HIV infection because positive persons can
immediately be linked into care and services, while negative individuals will
receive reinforcement in risk reduction. The bottom line is fewer people will
fall through the cracks because it will now be one stop shopping for both a
test and a result."
Another provision of AB 685 allows testing programs in the state to now
hire and train testing counselors even if they do not have a high school
diploma. "At first blush, requiring a high school diploma does not seem to be
such a bad idea," said AHF's Weinstein when the bill cleared the Assembly last
week. "However, we've found many people seeking testing services are more
comfortable with counselors who have shared a similar experience to their own,
so we often seek out testing counselors with non-traditional backgrounds.
With certain high-risk populations that we may want to target for testing
services -- IV drug users, sex workers, for example -- requiring a counselor
to have a high school diploma may be a counterproductive burden. As
California tries to resolve its budget crisis and deficit, why should
taxpayers foot the bill for more training and regulation than is necessary? I
thank Mark Leno for introducing and carrying this very sensible bill."
SOURCE AIDS Healthcare Foundation
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