Measure to update HIV education passes in Oklahoma Senate

By Jordan Redman
Staff Writer

SB 1105, a bill proposed to direct school districts to provide certain age-appropriate instruction about HIV, AIDS and related issues has passed in the Oklahoma Senate.

Authored by Senator Griffin and coauthored by Senator Pittman, the bill would require each school district in the state of Oklahoma to provide age appropriate instruction about HIV, AIDS and related issues.

The instruction will include:

1. The definition of HIV and AIDS.

2. How the virus is transmitted.

3. How the virus is not transmitted.

4. An analysis of the transmission and methods of prevention for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV, with an emphasis on abstinence from sex and intravenous drug use.

5. Identification of risk behaviors and situations involving possible exposure to HIV;

6. A demonstration of refusal skills, negotiating skills and peer resistance skills related to sexual health.

The State Department of Education will work in conjunction with the Department of Health to create or implement a medically accurate curriculum for HIV education.

David White, Advocacy and Policy Associate at the Oklahoma AIDS Care Fund, said “I am pleased the state Senate passed SB 1105. This bill will bring Oklahoman’s HIV education instruction out of the 1980s and into the 21st Century. In 2016, 44% of Oklahomans newly-diagnosed with HIV were under the age of 30—so educating young people is vital to ending new transmissions, increasing testing and reducing the stigma surrounding HIV.”

According to the Oklahoma AIDS Care Fund, at the end of 2016, an estimated 5,965 persons were living with HIV/AIDS in Oklahoma.

Additionally, in 2016, five counties in Oklahoma accounted for over 75% of the newly diagnosed cases of HIV: Oklahoma (35.3%), Tulsa (21,7%), Cleveland (10.8%), Canadian (3.4%) and Comanche (3.4%).

The Gayly. March 14, 2018. 3:25 p.m. CST.