WHEREAS, therapeutic advances have contributed to a slowing of progression from HIV to AIDS, and to a large decline in the number of newly reported AIDS cases; and,

WHEREAS, these achievements have rendered surveillance systems which rely solely on AIDS cases less adequate for monitoring trends of the epidemic; and,

WHEREAS, in response to these changes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, and many other public health organizations have recommended that all States and Territories conduct  HIV case surveillance, in addition to AIDS surveillance; and,

WHEREAS, the Health Commission passed Resolution #15-95 on May 16, 1995, in opposition to mandatory names-based HIV reporting; and,

WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded the Department of Public Health funding to develop and test a non-names based HIV surveillance system; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED that the Health Commission reaffirms its opposition to names-based HIV reporting; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED that the Health Commission supports the Department's implementation of a unique identifier (non-names based) HIV surveillance pilot project.

I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was adopted by the Health Commission at its meeting of Tuesday, April 20, 1999.

Sandy Ouye Mori, Executive Secretary to the Health Commission