LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday signed a cost saving bill intended to jumpstart a stalled "rapid" HIV testing program in California. The bill -- Assembly Bill 685 (Assemblyman Mark Leno, D, San Francisco) which was sponsored by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest AIDS group in the US, streamlines training for HIV testing counselors -- was among the first bills to land on the new governor's desk. It cleared the Assembly unanimously last week with a 77 to 0 vote, and was signed late Wednesday afternoon in Sacramento by the governor. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030429/AHFLOGO ) "We thank Assemblyman Mark Leno for introducing and carefully shepherding AB 685 and Governor Schwarzenegger for his quick signature on this important bill," said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest AIDS group in the US which operates AIDS clinics in the US, Africa and Central America. "Now, counselors will not have to take two distinct trainings -- one on HIV counseling and one on drawing blood -- but instead will have one comprehensive program that will save time and money." "As the official sponsor of this bill, AIDS Healthcare Foundation is excited that more Californians will now be able to know their HIV status," said Karen Mall, Director of Prevention for AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which operates the largest alternative testing program in California, providing more than 13,000 tests annually. "Despite federal approval last year of new technology, few Californians have access to the twenty-minute HIV test results because few programs could offer it. AB 685 enables more sites throughout the state to provide the test and the result in the same counseling session. This will help break the chain of HIV infection because positive persons can immediately be linked into care and services, while negative individuals will receive reinforcement in risk reduction. The bottom line is fewer people will fall through the cracks because it will now be one stop shopping for both a test and a result." Another provision of AB 685 allows testing programs in the state to now hire and train testing counselors even if they do not have a high school diploma. "At first blush, requiring a high school diploma does not seem to be such a bad idea," said AHF's Weinstein when the bill cleared the Assembly last week. "However, we've found many people seeking testing services are more comfortable with counselors who have shared a similar experience to their own, so we often seek out testing counselors with non-traditional backgrounds. With certain high-risk populations that we may want to target for testing services -- IV drug users, sex workers, for example -- requiring a counselor to have a high school diploma may be a counterproductive burden. As California tries to resolve its budget crisis and deficit, why should taxpayers foot the bill for more training and regulation than is necessary? I thank Mark Leno for introducing and carrying this very sensible bill."
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