Momentum Builds to Eliminate Travel Restrictions Against People Living with HIV. 30/3/08
Bulletin no. 01/2008
Keep the Promise, HIV AIDS AND CAMPAIGN
When the HIV and AIDS epidemic was identified in the early 80s, countries began establishing travel restrictions in an effort to prevent the virus from entering their borders. Such measures include mandatory HIV testing for persons seeking entry to the country and that would-be entrants declare themselves to be uninfected.
Based on these mandatory tests and declarations, a number of countries have excluded from entry people living with HIV or people suspected of being infected. Restrictions have been imposed upon people wishing to enter the country for short-term stays such as for business or personal visits or tourism, or for longer periods such as for study, employment, refugee resettlement or immigration.
Despite the medical advances that have made HIV a more manageable disease, most countries still impose travel restrictions on people living with HIV and cite two main reasons – to protect the national public health and to avoid the economic costs of providing health care and social assistance to people affected by HIV and AIDS. Over the years, many international organizations, including United Nations agencies and programs, the International AIDS Society and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, have strongly opposed the use of HIV and AIDS-related travel restrictions, noting that there is no public health rationale for such restrictions and that the practices are discriminatory, increase stigma, and prevent people from seeking available treatment and support.
A briefing paper on travel restrictions will soon be available (Stories are needed! See below). There are also a number of recent steps being taken to address the restrictions.
To search a country by country database of HIV-related travel restrictions visit:
http://www.eatg.org/hivtravel/
International Task Team on HIV-related Travel Restrictions convened
UNAIDS has set up an international task team to work toward the elimination of HIV-related travel restrictions towards people living with HIV. The group includes representatives of governments, inter-governmental organizations, civil society groups, the private sector and networks of people living with HIV. It held its first meeting in Geneva at the end of February, co-chaired by UNAIDS and the
Norwegian Government.
The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is represented on the task team by Peter Prove, of The Lutheran World Federation, who is a lawyer specializing in human rights (he is also a member of the EAA Global Trade Strategy Group).
“Travel restrictions based on HIV status again highlight the exceptionality of AIDS, especially short-term restrictions,” said Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “No other condition prevents people from entering countries for business, tourism, or to attend meetings. No other condition has people afraid of having their baggage searched for medication at the border, with the result that they are denied entry or worse, detained and then deported back to their country”, he added Recent studies indicate that 104 countries have some form of HIV-specific travel restrictions, including 12 which ban people living with HIV from entering for any reason or length of time.
Most of the restrictions require people to indicate their HIV status before entering or remaining in a country, with some countries requiring them to undergo mandatory HIV testing, without privacy safeguards.
“Addressing the issue of travel restrictions related to HIV status helps us to confront the larger issue of systemic discrimination towards people living with HIV and AIDS”, said Peter Prove. “In the case of travel restrictions, the policy of discrimination is often shockingly explicit”.
The next meeting of the task team will be 31 March to 2 April in Geneva.
For more information, see: