[afro-nets] U.S. eases restrictions on HIV+ travelers

["Brian Pazvakavambwa" <PazvakavambwaB@zw.afro.who.int>]

U.S. eases restrictions on HIV+ travelers
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Cross posted from the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA)

Hi all -

President Bush announced on World AIDS Day he would ease the ban on HIV + individuals entering the U.S.

For a full link to the article, see below:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/12/02/MNGKFMO1ST1.DTL

Excerpt from the article:

"President Bush will ease a long-standing rule barring HIV-positive people from entering the United States without a special waiver, a ban long criticized by human rights groups.

Because of the rule, organizers of the biannual International AIDS Conferences have not held a gathering in the United States since 1990, when San Francisco hosted the event.

The White House chose Friday, World AIDS Day, to announce that Bush would issue an executive order allowing HIV-positive people to enter the United States on short-term tourist or business visas without having to seek special permission.

"This administration is very serious about fighting discrimination on AIDS,'' U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Mark Dybul said during a telephone interview after White House ceremonies marking the day.

Activists, taken by surprise by the announcement, generally praised Bush's decision but said all restrictions on immigrants with HIV should be lifted.

"It's a step away from a terribly discriminatory and inappropriate policy, but it doesn't go far enough,'' said Leonard Rubenstein, executive director of Physicians for Human Rights, in Washington. "This is a treatable disease. If you want to remove stigma from AIDS, you have to go the whole distance, and eliminate all restrictions on entry to the United States for people with HIV.''

UCSF physician Donald Abrams, who helped organize the 1990 AIDS conference, called Bush's move "a humane and positive thing.'' But he was uncertain whether it would pave the way for the big international AIDS meetings to return to U.S. soil.

"It is certainly a step that will serve to bring us in line with the rest of the civilized world,'' he said.

Abrams said that many HIV-positive travelers entering the United States simply ignore the requirement that they declare themselves infected with the virus. But those who must also carry antiviral drugs are inevitably fearful they will be found out and turned back if customs officials find the medication, he said.

"You don't know how many people have called in their prescriptions to Walgreens because they are paranoid someone will check their bag,'' he said.

Mark Sawyer, a co-founder of ACT UP New York who has campaigned against the ban since it was first put in place in 1987, said Bush's plan to lift the requirement for short-term visits was not good enough.

Under the proposed new rule, HIV-positive people would receive a "categorical waiver" of the requirement on business or tourist visas for visits up to 60 days. It remains unclear whether visitors would still have to declare their HIV status, because the waiver would be granted automatically.

"We shouldn't have to get a waiver, period,'' Sawyer said."

-- 
Caitlin L. Chandler
Project Officer, Capacity Building
Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS
211 East 43rd Street, Suite 905
New York, NY 10017
+1-212-661-6111
+1-212-661-1933 (fax)
http://www.youthaidscoalition.org
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