April 26, 2005

REVISED NEW YORK STATE REGULATIONS FOR HIV COUNSELING & TESTING AND LABORATORY REPORTING AVAILABLE ONLINE TO AIDS ISSUES UPDATE READERS

The new "2005 Guidance for HIV Counseling & Testing and New Laboratory Reporting Requirements," issued today by the New York State Department of Health, is available as a set of PDF files online at www.hwadvocacy.com/update/downloads/nysdoh_hiv_testing_regs.zip, or go to the story in this week's Update online and click the link.

In an effort to make HIV testing more routine, the new regulations simplify the informed-consent process required by law. They also require more stringent reporting of patients' CD4, viral-load and drug-resistance data, in order to track treatment and care patterns within populations. We'll have a full report on the new rules, along with community reaction, analysis and editorial comments in next week's Housing Works AIDS Issues Update.

The Housing Works AIDS Issues Update is reported, written and edited by Diana Scholl, David Thorpe, Christine Campbell, terri smith-caronia and Housing Works staff. Send your feedback, leads and story ideas to d.scholl@housingworks.org.

You can reach us by phone at 212-967-1500 x168, by fax at 212-868-4222, and by email at d.scholl@housingworks.org. Housing Works provides housing, advocacy and services to homeless people living with AIDS and HIV. Housing Works is the nation's largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation's largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.

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