HIV travel opens Stateside
Australians with HIV travelling to the US will no longer have to declare their status.
The US Congress passed a bill last week tripling the funding for the global AIDS fight to $48 billion over five years and ending the 20-year ban on HIV-positive travellers to the country. The bill still needs to be signed into law by President George W Bush.
Barring some unforeseen event, the HIV travel ban -” a relic of the days when HIV was a source of fear and stigma and terror -” is finally over, HIV-positive columnist Andrew Sullivan wrote in his blog last Thursday.
Local HIV groups are also thrilled with the move. NAPWA executive director Jo Watson said it would have flow-on effects for the research community.
This has had an enormous impact on HIV-positive Australians. It had become an issue not just of freedom of movement, but a sense of breakdown of protection and privacy, Watson said.
Your option was to not declare [your HIV status] and risk being apprehended in violation of the law, which could mean significant and severe consequences -” not the least of which was being thrown out and banned from ever entering again.
Although there were 12 countries that had a similar restriction, Watson said the US stood alone in that its own population was opposed to the ban.
For many years now internationally significant conferences have not been able to hold meetings in the US because of that restriction. The global community said almost unanimously that they wouldn’t hold forums in that country while that ban was in place, she said.
In ending that restriction you’re going to see a lot of activity going to be based in the US. It’s going to free up a whole range of good company for the country to come in from the cold.
Australia has no restrictions on HIV-positive travellers, but immigrants must appeal to the Migration Review Tribunal as the estimated cost of HIV treatment is more than the Government’s allowed threshold.
info: For more information on countries with HIV entry, stay and residence restrictions, visit www.hivtravel.org
I have to admit its a silly law. Imagine if your banned flying to the US if you have Sinisitis or Athletes foot?
It is high-time that the Australian Constitution also added the term provision like this: -œIt is unlawful and unethical to discriminate on the basis of gender, gender idenity, HIV status, race, disability, ethnicity, economic status, marital or domestic status, colour or indigenous status, sexual orientation, etc or any of the above as said or quoted into this constitution.
George Bush is terrorist for treating people who are HIV like crap. People who are HIV need love and support and even have the right to travel ANYWHERE!!!