Oregon will hold meetings on names-based HIV reporting

Health officials in Oregon have scheduled a series of public meetings around the state in March to educate residents about the upcoming change in HIV reporting from a codes-based system to tracking the cases by the names of the HIV patients, The Oregonian reports. The state is abandoning its current codes-based system because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected later this year to begin tying AIDS grants to data from names-based HIV reporting, and maintaining the codes-based system could cost Oregon as much as $10 million a year in federal funding. State health officials in January announced that they would move to a names-based HIV reporting system but have only now scheduled public meetings on the change.

The meetings will be held in Bend, Ore., 1–3 p.m., on March 20 at the Deschutes County Health Department; in Eugene, Ore., 9–11 a.m., on March 22 at Lane County Mental Health; and Portland, Ore., 9 a.m.–noon, on March 24 at the Portland State Office Building. (Advocate.com)

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