Because they are unwilling to track information by patient name, as opposed to using anonymous identifiers. I put this in GD because it seems like a larger issue impacting more than just two localities, touching on matters of medical privacy, discrimination against HIV positive individuals, and medical ethics. Is anyone else bothered by this development?

The District of Columbia and Maryland may lose millions of dollars in federal AIDS grants if they do not agree to have local health departments collect and record the names of people with newly diagnosed HIV infection.

The two jurisdictions are among about a dozen in the country that collect data about new HIV cases using coded identities, not names -- a strategy adopted two decades ago when HIV infection was untreatable and highly stigmatizing.

Many jurisdictions have since switched from "code-based" to "name-based" reporting of new cases. A name-based system is already used everywhere for AIDS, the advanced stage of HIV infection.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says universal name-based reporting for all HIV cases -- not just AIDS -- is essential for tracking the epidemic in the United States. Having such a system is likely to become the key determinant of how $2.2 billion a year in federal AIDS grants is distributed to cities and states under the Ryan White CARE Act.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...