NCJ Number
110510
Date Published
1987
Length
141 pages
Annotation
The Kansas Governor's Task Force on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) examined the latest scientific and medical facts together with the many social, economic, and legal aspects of the issue in the State and recommends several steps to appropriately balance the protection of the public's health and the concerns and rights of individuals afflicted.
Abstract
The task force brought together experts on the scientific, medical public health, ethical, and social aspects of the disease. AIDS poses a major challenge to the health care system, the State's Medicaid Program, and to prisons and State institutions. Public education about human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection will continue to be the critical public health prevention measure. The Task Force recommends expansion of AIDS prevention education programs and professional counseling services, expansion of voluntary testing and counseling services, assurances of confidentiality in testing programs, and an active program of surveillance on the prevalence and incidence of HIV infection in the State's population. Further recommendations include strengthening of antidiscrimination and confidentiality statutes and policies, expansion of State laboratory support services, expansion of testing and related programs in State correctional facilities, changes in the Medicaid Program to deal with AIDS, and promotion and funding of outpatient and related services. Tables, 166 references, and appended background materials and journal articles.