from www.laweekly.com – Is the porn industry pushing its luck with this latest report of HIV? The AIDS Healthcare Foundation says it is.
According to AHF, Adult Industry Medical (AIM) Healthcare, the group that conducts voluntary STD testing for the adult video business, has yet to submit its HIV-positive report to the county, even though the deadline to do so has passed.
What’s more, AHF says, the county has yet to do anything about it.
According to the foundation the deadline to submit the finding was Saturday. On Monday county health officials were incommunicado when it comes to explaining why the industry group was allowed to get away with missing the deadline (so far), according to AHF.
AHF president Michael Weinstein:
“Ten days and counting and we still have no public word from AIM or from Los Angeles County’s Public Health Department on this latest suspected case of HIV found in a performer who has been reported to be actively working in the adult film industry over the past several months. Meanwhile, in the vacuum of any concrete information from the clinic or the County, the incident is garnering growing international media attention and has created untold anxiety for scores of adult performers working in the industry who want information and answers. If this was a manhunt for a dangerous criminal or an Amber Alert for a lost or kidnapped child, you can be certain that government officials would have addressed the public and the communities affected many times over by now.”
News broke last week that a male performer who reportedly did both gay and straight work had tested positive. AIM Healthcare stated that those who had done recent “work” with him were under (voluntary) quarantine, and more than few major porn production companies stated they were shutting down until this thing was under control.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has been pressuring the state to mandate that condoms be used on porn sets in California so that performers don’t get HIV.
AIM has countered that any roll-’em-on rule will only push porn underground and make it even less safe.