HIV patients to be tracked. Daybreak cometh.

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/health/322514,040107hiv.article
HIV patients to be tracked.

The following article talks about the fact that HIV patients are to be placed on lists. Their real names are to be placed in data bases and kept track of. This tracking system is going to start at the end of 2007.

Now some people think that this is a good idea, because AIDS is a deadly disease and keeping track of who has the disease might help stop the spread. However there is no real evidence to suggest that this is true. If anything it might prevent people from going out and getting tested for the disease knowing that their names will be placed in some data base for the next decade or two. Even worst they have no way of knowing how the list will really be used.

http://www.amazon.com/Daybreak-Moira-Kelly/dp/6302900727

http://www.answers.com/topic/daybreak-1

[quote]The names of people infected with HIV will be tracked in all 50 states by the end of 2007, marking a victory for federal health officials and a quiet defeat for AIDS advocates who wanted to keep patients’ names out of state databases.[quote]
They not only have the ability to track these people, but they have the ability to do so much more now. I have recently been on a forum, where some people thought this was a good idea, and others thought it was an invasion of privacy. It’s also a good way to discourage people from getting tested for the disease, just insuring that they continue to be a health concern for themselves and others.

Many are asking the obvious questions, such as what is the real purpose of this list? Will it stop at HIV patients? What is the potential for abuse or misuse of these lists?

[quote]This is the first year federal funding has been tied to names-based surveillance of HIV. [quote]

I think of people like Ryan White who fight so hard for his rights, and the time that has passed since then. Most people don’t remember this engaging teen and his struggle for small dignities.

[quote]Illinois started names-based HIV surveillance Jan. 1, 2006, because of federal pressure.[/quote]

Is this really about tracking a deadly disease and making the planet a safer place, or is this just the start of a long line of lists to come? With the growing police state coming, this is not even that surprising to hear about.

Not too much to say, first they create one list, and no one speaks, then they create another and another and another. If we sit back and let them do this to these individuals today, then tomorrow what will they do? I see this as the first step in a very long slippery slope, that is spreading very far and very wide.

The future cometh and boy is it going to be a duzey.