First, women are a growing share of the AIDS epidemic, and partner notification is to some degree a women's issue. Partner notification has an important role to play in notifying women of potential risk for HIV, and these programs are already mandated by federal law. But there are real risks for women when rigidly mandated partner notification programs do not allow for exceptions for individual situations and the judgement of health care professionals. For example, research documents the potential link between partner notification and domestic violence. It is clear that if the goal is to protect women, partner notification must be tailored to respond to individual circumstances.
Federal mandates are inappropriate and dangerous.
Second, H.R. 4431 would link partner notification with mandatory names reporting for HIV infection. This link to names-based reporting is not necessary for an effective partner notification program, and threatens to dissuade many of those at highest risk for HIV from being tested at all. As with all other diseases, decisions about surveillance and reporting are, and must remain, state decisions. Once again, federal mandates are not good HIV prevention. Finally, H.R. 4431 stipulates that there shall be no criminal or civil penalty when erroneous or inappropriate disclosures are made as part of the programs mandated by the legislation.