(New York, October 4, 2007) — Lambda Legal, AIDS Foundation of Chicago and the Center for HIV Law and Policy are sending a set of 15 HIV testing principles to help guide the 23 state and local public health departments, announced last week, that will receive funding by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to conduct increased HIV testing campaigns.

The principles, which to date have been endorsed by over 70 health, service and advocacy organizations and physicians, are set forth in a document entitled ?Expanding the Availability and Acceptance of Voluntary HIV Testing: Fundamental Principles to Guide Implementation.?

Last week, CDC awarded $35 million to 23 state and local public health departments for one-year projects to target HIV testing expansion in African-American communities where rates of HIV/AIDS are most acute. In addition, members of the Congressional Black Caucus joined with the Black AIDS Institute and other civil rights organizations last week in calling for a campaign to provide HIV testing to 1 million African-Americans by December 2008 as part of a mass mobilization campaign.

?As local public health agencies use new grant monies, it is vitally important that certain principles guide those efforts, to ensure that HIV testing is always informed, voluntary, confidential, and supported by health care,? said Bebe Anderson, HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal and one of the primary authors of the Fundamental Principles. ?Otherwise, the worthy goals of increasing early diagnosis and care for those who are living with HIV will suffer.?

?The CDC grants for HIV testing expansion have the potential to do an enormous amount of good for people unaware of their HIV infection,? according to Frank Oldham, Executive Director of the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA). ?Each grant is an opportunity for local stakeholders to come together to ensure expanded testing services are matched with educational opportunities about the merits of HIV testing acceptance as well as appropriate post-testing services for the newly diagnosed.?

?Black gay men in America have the most to gain from expanded HIV testing campaigns,? said Lee Carson, president of the Black Gay Men?s Leadership Council of Philadelphia. ?As advocates, we must ensure that black gay leaders in each community funded for testing expansion are actively involved and engaged in testing expansion plans. We must ensure that each expansion program meets the needs of at-risk gay men and takes the necessary steps to protect our confidentiality and promote our medical decision-making rights. Only by involving us in the planning of these programs can we be sure they are designed to adequately meet our needs.?