Is Congress making a national database of all persons diagnosed with a STD?

Question

I heard this throught the grapevine and I was curious to know if it was true. It seems to be a civil liberities violation to me, but I don't even know if the rumor is true.

Answer 1

The rumor is NOT true.

Check out this answer I gave a while back. I explain the process by which a disease (inlcuding most STDs) gets reported to the health department.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006033031802&pa=FZB6NXXtFWMW0cLWwuwe8o4KB7a8jKXpIf06CLL.4rrbv6gEUpc-&paid=add_watch

People don't realize that most public health stuff is handled at a LOCAL level. The national government has little hand in our day to day operations. The only times I have had to really work with the CDC was during very wide multi-jurisdictional outbreaks. Even then, we did most of the work, and CDC just gives us money and coordination between departments.

Congressmen are idiots and often make horribly uninformed big policy decisions about health. But that's besides the point.

The point is, Congress doesn't need to put together a database of people with STDs. For one thing, it'd be a big database, but what use is that info.

Think of WHY you'd need a database of STD patients?

WE, your local health department, need databases to keep track of how many cases, to help us manage and treat patients. We want to know who's getting sick and why. If there's a spike in a particular disease, we look at demographics and risk factors to determine where we should direct our disease control efforts.

Yes, local health departments have databases, but that information is strictly guarded. We are bound by HIPAA rules not to divulge that info to unauthorized parties. My office has code-locks on the doors. We are NOT allowed to take files home.

Answer 2

as far as i kow. no they arent. but a prson who has a .std. is in the. cdc. records if reported as well treated by a health department. aas for private ..doctors. many by law and that depends on your state wont report it called the privacey act. in my opion that is a really stupid thing but many dot even use or even tell who they have been with for different reasons . married. or fooling with underage persons. and by law that is counted both. feloney charges as well murder. when you have it and never tell the other person in my opion that isnt wrght. my opion?