He is also the Director of CIRA's Law, Policy and Ethics Core. AIDS case reporting has been required by all of the states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico since the early 1980 s. Other demographic data are reported or subsequently filled in. State public health officials may choose to interview each reported person to seek epidemiological clarification. No person is mandated to agree to an interview, nor is anyone under oath to tell the truth.
People answer questions as best as they are willing and able to do by their own values and beliefs.
State public health officials may also seek access to individual s medical records or to interview care providers for surveillance purposes. The state lists of names and demographic data are held in confidence and have only rarely been compromised. There were great fears expressed by members of some vulnerable communities at the time that state AIDS case and name reporting were instituted that individual patients would suffer from breaches of confidentiality in access to housing, employment, health insurance and other general rights and privileges of the American public, but reported breaches of procedure have been scattered and have not usually been deeply damaging. Deep fears were expressed as well, about forwarding names from the states to CDC and those fears were addressed by instituting a system of encoding names. Thus CDC epidemiologists can request additional information from state health departments but do not have direct access to patient s identities or records.