Rep. Mary Flowers of Chicago is sponsoring legislation that would “require [HIV testing] during each of the three school physicals required by state law: one in preschool or before entering kindergarten, one in fifth grade and one in ninth grade.” Schools would not be given student test results.

    In the last legislative session, Flowers sponsored a bill requiring testing for newborns if the mother’s HIV status is unknown. The bill became law in June 2006. The new bill, House Bill 193, continues the mission of the earlier one, she said.

    Roxanne Stewart, an HIV-AIDS community outreach educator with the Lee Resource Center in Springfield, agreed early diagnosis can help someone infected with HIV live a healthier life.
    “People live with HIV for years,” she said. “There is no guarantee that HIV will become AIDS, but there is no guarantee it won’t.”
    However, early treatment increases the chances that a person won’t contract AIDS for a longer period of time and that leads to a better quality of life, Stewart said. Once a person contracts AIDS, that means the body is shutting down, she said.