Commending Health Commissioner John F. Domzalski for his tenacious work that led to Pennsylvania Health Secretary Calvin B. Johnson temporarily allowing Philadelphia to use a coded system that maintains an HIV patient's anonymity and urging the Pennsylvania Health Department to incorporate a permanent code based names reporting system for the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

WHEREAS, Pennsylvania already requires doctors to use patients’ names in reporting AIDS cases to county and state health officials but unlike most states, Pennsylvania has no system for reporting HIV; and

WHEREAS, Currently seven states use a code-based system including Maryland and Massachusetts; and

WHERESAS, Under coded system, doctors assign their HIV patients unique identifiers that allow the tracking of their cases without their names; and

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia has used this system for more then a decade in AIDS cases; and

WHEREAS, About 13,000 Pennsylvanians now have AIDS, and more than 30,000 are estimated to have HIV; and

WHEREAS, Commissioner John F. Domzalski has been in the fore front advocating for Philadelphia to use a coded system; and

WHEREAS, Because of Commissioner John F. Domzalski tireless work Pennsylvania Health Secretary Calvin B. Johnson granted a one year trial for an HIV coded system; and

WHEREAS, As part of the agreement, the City must demonstrate that it is providing proper HIV counseling and care, and the program’s effectiveness will be evaluated before it is made permanent; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNICL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor and recognize Health Commissioner John F. Domzalski’s tenacious and tireless work that led to Pennsylvania Health Secretary Calvin B. Johnson temporarily allowing Philadelphia to use a coded system that maintains an HIV patients anonymity and urge the Pennsylvania Health Department to incorporate a permanent code based names reporting system for the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Health Commissioner John F. Domzalski as an expression of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.

End

JUAN F. RAMOS

COUNCILMAN AT-LARGE

4/15/04