D.C. board of
education calls for better HIV instruction

The District of
Columbia board of education has called for the
district’s health education curriculum to be
revised by the end of the year to include better, more
extensive instruction on how to prevent the spread of
HIV, The
Washington Examiner reports. There are
currently no standards on HIV instruction or tracking
systems in place to determine which students have received
HIV prevention education. The board recommended that
school superintendent Clifford Janey hire a
cabinet-level health administrator to revise the curriculum
and ensure that all schools in the district provide adequate
HIV information.

"This policy is
way overdue, especially with the district having what
is believed to be the highest rate of new AIDS cases in any
major U.S. city," board president Peggy Cooper Cafritz
said in a statement. “It is imperative to
provide our young people in D.C. schools with the skills
and information to protect themselves." (Advocate.com)