South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have modified regulations regarding HIV-positive students in the state, the AP/Columbia State reports. Sanford said that South Carolina needs increased notification about bloodborne diseases (AP/Columbia State, 6/12).

The bill, approved by the state House last month, would have required school nurses to inform the Department of Health and Environmental Control when any student in grades kindergarten through 12 had contact with another person's blood in order to determine if the student was exposed to bloodborne diseases such as HIV. Under the bill, DHEC would have notified school nurses if a student involved in incidents such as fights or sports injuries had HIV, hepatitis or any other bloodborne disease and would have advised about medical treatment. Clinics and doctor's offices would have continued to inform DHEC of positive test results under the bill, which would have stipulated that the names of students living with the diseases be known only to DHEC. Under current state law, school nurses and superintendants are notified by DHEC when they have HIV-positive students at their schools (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 5/29).