US Lifts Travel Ban on HIV-Positive People. 21/07/2008

Ban on Travelers with HIV to US Is Partly Lifted.

Los Angeles Times (07.31.08)::Vimal Patel

On Wednesday, President Bush signed into law a measure that provides $48 billion to combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases globally, and ends a longstanding policy banning HIV-positive people from travelling to the United States. However, the repeal of the 1993 travel ban does not remove all impediments for HIV-positive foreign visitors and immigrants.

Since 1987, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has had HIV on a list of diseases barring entry into the United States, a prohibition that is separate from the congressionally imposed ban. But now that legislators have repealed the overarching travel ban, federal health officials are no longer legally bound to keep HIV on the list, which also includes tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and leprosy.

In 1991, HHS proposed removing HIV from its list but the move drew outrage from religious conservatives and the effort was derailed, said Victoria Neilson, legal director for Immigration Equality, a New York-based group. A similar public comment period would be likely if HHS revisited the proposal.

Attitudes about HIV/AIDS have changed, and the debate may be different today, said Neilson. "People understand it's a virus, not a black plague or something. There's no reason for a disease that isn't airborne to be on the list," she said.

Waivers are available. A short-term waiver permits visitors to enter the United States temporarily if they can show they do not have HIV symptoms, do not pose a threat to public health, and can pay for their medical care, if necessary.