ASSEMBLY, No. 2448

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED NOVEMBER 7, 1996

By Assemblywoman VANDERVALK

An Act concerning partner notification and acquired immune deficiency syndrome and supplementing P.L.1989, c.303 (C.26:5C-5 et seq.).

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1.    a. For purposes of this section:

    "Sexual partner" means a person with whom an individual with AIDS or infected with HIV has had intimate sexual relations during the period in which the individual may have been infected.

    "Needle-sharing partner" means any person with whom an individual with AIDS or infected with HIV has shared equipment, products, or materials of any kind which are used to inject a substance into the human body during the period in which the individual may have been infected.

    b.    Whenever the Department of Health and Senior Services receives a report that an individual is diagnosed with AIDS or HIV infection, the department shall personally and confidentially interview the individual who is the subject of the report and shall seek to obtain the names and whereabouts of the sexual partners or needle-sharing partners of the infected individual. Such a diagnosed individual may not be penalized for refusing or failing to volunteer the identity of his sexual or needle-sharing partners.

    c.    The department shall make a good faith effort to notify each individual named as a partner under subsection b. of this section and shall inform that individual of:

    (1)  the possibility that the individual has been exposed to HIV infection;

    (2)  the methods of transmission and methods of prevention of HIV infection;

    (3)  the availability of diagnostic testing;

    (4)  the reliability of testing procedures;

    (5)  the availability of medical treatment for HIV infection and its resultant secondary infections if diagnosed;

    (6)  the presumption that a person who is infected with HIV is infected for life; and

    (7)  the responsibility of an infected person not to knowingly infect others.

    d.    The department may not disclose to the partner the name or other identifying information concerning the identity of the individual supplying the partner's name.

    e.    The information given under this section concerning a partner of an individual who has AIDS or HIV infection is confidential and may be used only for the purposes of notifying the partner and providing information to the partner.

    2.    The requirements of this act shall apply to all cases of AIDS or HIV infection diagnosed after the effective date of this act; however, nothing shall preclude the department from providing notification services to persons diagnosed prior to that date.

    3.    This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    New Jersey has more than 30,500 reported cases of AIDS with new cases being diagnosed each day. Efforts to trace and notify sexual or needle-sharing partners of individuals infected with HIV or AIDS is one means of controlling this disease and possibly preventing additional cases. In this regard, at least 32 states have enacted HIV/AIDS-specific partner notification laws.

    This bill provides for an active partner notification program by requiring the Department of Health and Senior Services to interview all individuals who are reported to be diagnosed with AIDS or HIV infection in order to seek to obtain the names of sexual partners or needle-sharing partners of the infected individual. The department would then be required to make a good faith effort to notify each individual named as a partner, to inform that individual of the possibility that he or she has been exposed to HIV infection and to provide information on various prevention, testing and treatment issues. The bill further provides that the department would be precluded from disclosing the identity of the individual supplying the partner's name to the notified partner and that all information obtained concerning a partner would be held confidential.

Requires DHSS to notify partners of individuals with AIDS or HIV infection.