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)