HIV/AIDS Advocacy Group Calls For Condom Use In Los Angeles County Adult Film Industry; County Response To HIV Cases Questioned

Friday, June 19, 2009

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) on Thursday called on Los Angeles County health officials to require that condoms be used in the adult film industry or shut down production in light of a recent report that a number of people at the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation (AIMHF) clinic have tested positive for HIV since 2004, the Los Angeles Times reports. The group also criticized the county's response to cases of HIV in the adult industry. Michael Weinstein, president of AHF, said, "L.A. County public health officials have been asleep at the switch with regard to monitoring HIV and STD prevention and testing in the region's porn industry." Other questions have been raised regarding the county's role in the notification of partners of those who test positive for HIV, according to the Times (Los Angeles Times, 6/19). 

Investigators from the state's Division of Occupational Safety and Health this week conducted a surprise inspection of the AIMHF citing that the clinic has failed to alert local authorities of HIV cases and other sexually transmitted infections diagnosed at the clinic (Elsner, Reuters, 6/18).