Colorado County Rejects Anonymous HIV Testing Option
The Board of Health for El Paso County, Colo., yesterday voted against a proposal that would have given HIV testing clinics the option of offering anonymous screenings, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports. Board member Dr. Jack Dillon stated that anonymous testing, or being tested without giving a name or other identifying facts, "could thwart follow-up and partner notification," adding, "It's really a community health issue." Of Colorado's 14 HIV counseling and testing sites, 11 offer voluntary, confidential testing with the option of anonymous screening. The other three sites, including El Paso County, offer only confidential testing, during which a person provides some personal information, such as a name or phone number. The board also voted against separating risk information from identifying information on records of confidential HIV-negative test results after a certain period of time and rejected a proposal to destroy individual records for individuals who test HIV-negative (Radford, Colorado Springs Gazette, 5/24).
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