AIDS data may end county health's condom ban

[The Straight Story]

AIDS data may end county health's condom ban

The number of Dallas County residents living with HIV and AIDS has steadily increased during the past five years.

But county health workers still are not allowed to distribute condoms in high-risk neighborhoods because of a controversial Commissioners Court policy passed 13 years ago.

At least two court members, however, are hoping to reverse that policy.

"I can't continue to join the ostrich head-in-the-sand group given the numbers," said Commissioner John Wiley Price, a Democrat who raised the issue during a recent meeting.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-aids_22met.ART.State.Edition1.9c80c74.html

[uppityperson]

1. that would be a very good idea.

[rainbow4321]

2. On a brighter note, Dallas County's hospital will be testing ALL their ER patients

for HIV/AIDS.
Parkland Hospital, our county hospital, has started a program where **every patient** who goes thru the ER will be given an HIV test by use of an oral swab test. They have arranged it so there will be specific (trained) testers performing the test instead of random ER staff. Mainly because you have to read the results in exactly 20 minutes after you do the swabbing..good luck with the timing of that if you have an overwhelmed ER staff person trying to handle several patients at a time.

They ran a study of sorts comparing the oral swab results vs fingerstick test results vs actual blood draw results. Several us on staff volunteered for the comparison test, as did some of our known HIV patients.
Patients will have to sign "opt out" paperwork if they don't want to get it done..otherwise, it will be done and is listed in the new consent for treatment paperwork they sign when they register for ER treatment.

[gratuitous]

3. I wonder how many new infections are due to this policy?

There's no way to tell, but several residents were given a death sentence because of another fucked-in-the-head political maneuver by conservatives rolling the dice with people's lives.