Testimony to the Illinois House Healthcare Availability and Access Committee on Implementation of the Perinatal HIV Prevention Act>

On May 3, 2005, the Illinois House Healthcare Availability and Access Committee held a subject matter hearing on the Perinatal HIV Prevention Act, which became law in 2003. The committee held the hearing to determine what efforts have taken place over the past two years to implement the law.

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) submitted written testimony to the committee describing recent public and private efforts to reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission in Illinois. Other groups, including Children's Memorial Hospital, Northwestern Memorial Hospital's HIV Center, the Cook County Public Defender's Office, and officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois Department of Corrections provided oral testimony. IDPH officials announced that draft regulations pertaining to the law have been developed and published in the Illinois Register. IDPH invites public comments on the regulations until June 27, 2005.

Drs. Pat Garcia and Ann Bryant of Northwestern Memorial Hospital provided compelling testimony about a collaborative project funded by IDPH to train medical staff in all of the state's 137 birthing hospitals on rapid HIV testing and standard-of-care for HIV-positive women in labor. The state-funded collaboration between the Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center, the Ruth Rothstein CORE Center, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the Pediatric AIDS Chicago Prevention Initiative, and others has trained more than 10,000 healthcare professionals at hundreds of hospitals across the state through the Perinatal Rapid Testing Implementation Initiative (PRTII).

Main perinatal issues page

Perinatal Prevention Act (PDF)

AFC testimony (PDF)

PRTII testimony (PDF)