--
Jefferson Delfino
---------- Início da mensagem original -----------
De: ob-gyn-l@obgyn.net
Para: "Multiple recipients of list OB-GYN-L" ob-gyn-l@dns.obgyn.net
Cc:
Data: Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:57:23 -0600
Assunto: New Jersey Requires H.I.V. Test in Pregnancy
> .
>
> New Jersey Requires H.I.V. Test in Pregnancy
>
> By JEREMY W. PETERS
>
> TRENTON [New Jersey] — An H.I.V. test is about to become as routine as an
> ultrasound for pregnant women in New Jersey.
>
> Under a bill signed into law on Wednesday [December 26, 2007], all pregnant
> women in the state will be tested for the virus as part of their prenatal care
> unless they object. The law also requires testing for newborns if the H.I.V.
> status of the mother is unknown.
>
> The new testing procedures are some of the most aggressive H.I.V.-prevention
> measures in the country for pregnant women and newborns, making New Jersey one
> of just a handful of states with laws requiring some form of prenatal testing.
>
> According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which researches health issues, a
> dozen states require doctors to offer H.I.V. tests to their pregnant patients.
> But just three — New York, Connecticut and Illinois — have mandatory testing
> for newborn babies. Four others — Michigan, Arkansas, Texas and Tennessee —
> have laws similar to New Jersey’s policy of testing pregnant women.
>
> New Jersey’s new law goes into effect in six months.
>
> Prenatal H.I.V. testing laws are meant to help stem the infection of newborns.
> If it is known that a pregnant woman is H.I.V. positive, doctors can take steps
> to prevent infection like prescribing antiretroviral drugs and delivering the
> child through a Caesarian section.
>
> “Early detection is the key,” Senator Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat from Bergen
> County who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. “This measure is a huge
> step forward in terms of protecting all babies while helping to educate
> mothers.”
>
> Under the law, women will be tested early in their pregnancies and again in
> their third trimesters unless they refuse. If a woman refuses, it will be
> noted, and an H.I.V. test will be performed on the newborn unless the mother
> has religious objections.
>
> According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, in 2001, New Jersey ranked 19th in
> the nation in the percentage of residents ages 18 to 64 who have ever been
> tested for H.I.V. Nearly 48 percent said they had been tested, compared with a
> national average of 45.6 percent, the foundation said.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/nyregion/27hiv.html?ref=us
>
