USA: ONE STEP CLOSER TO LIFTING HIV TRAVEL BAN
by Juhie Bhatia
Global Voices Online
Thursday, July 9th, 2009 @ 23:11 UTC
Last week the U.S. government initiated the final steps required to
lift long-standing travel and immigration restrictions imposed on
HIV-positive foreigners.
Under the current ban HIV-positive foreigners, whether they’re
tourists or business travelers, can’t enter the U.S., though in
exceptional cases a waiver can be granted. The policy, which has
been in place for more than 15 years, also prevents immigrants with
HIV from becoming legal permanent residents. This is because the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) includes HIV as one
of the "communicable diseases of public health significance" that bar
people from entering the U.S. But last week the HHS issued proposed
regulations that would remove HIV from this communicable diseases list.
Many activists and bloggers are applauding the move, since it kicks
off the process to repeal the ban. For instance, Erin, blogging on an
aspiring midwife, says: "It took until 2009, but the government finally
overturned one of the most blatantly discriminate laws legislated in
the past twenty years."
The first step to lift the ban was actually taken last July, when
President George W. Bush signed a bill into law containing an amendment
that would strike down the ban. But the prohibition stayed in place
because HIV was still on the communicable disease list, allowing the
U.S. government to stop those with HIV from entering the country. Last
month, for example, HIV-positive British activist Paul Thorn was
denied a visa when he tried to participate in a conference taking
place in Seattle. This video provides more background of the ban.
While various countries around the world have some travel or
immigration restrictions on those with HIV, the U.S. is one of a
few countries with such a restrictive policy on simply entering the
country. The blog DYM SUM elaborates: "An interesting side note:
only a dozen countries in the world, besides the United States,
still have an HIV travel ban in place. They are Iraq, China, Saudi
Arabia, Libya, Sudan, Qatar, Brunei, Oman, Moldova, Russia, Armenia,
and South Korea. If you need to, read that list a second time, and
think about what’s wrong there."
In response to the news, bloggers have been sharing their experiences
of trying to get into the U.S. or strategies they’ve heard can
circumvent the travel ban. For example, The Evolution of Jeremiah,
a blog from Canada, says: "I never had a problem getting into the
United States. Nobody asked me, and nobody needed to know. This will
be good news to travelers world wide. Hopefully this will come into
effect sooner than later."
Bobito, commenting on a blog post on Queerty, explains other strategies
that those with HIV have used: "From what I’ve been told, if they
[U.S. customs] find the antiviral medications in a traveler’s luggage,
they do not let the person leave the airport. There are ways to avoid
this situation, such as mailing one’s meds to a friend in America
before you fly, and I think there are some HIV support organizations
that provide some help in this, too.
I also read that, if they do a random luggage search and find
antiviral meds, then they stamp HIV+ into the traveller’s passport,
making all future attempts to travel into countries that ban HIV+
visitors impossible, but I don’t remember where I read."
A report released in June by Human Rights Watch describes how these
policies can have health consequences on HIV-positive migrants. The
blog Empowerment for HIV Positive Migrants and Spouses, based in
Malaysia, also discusses how these restrictions can be detrimental
to those with HIV. It states: "Misconception and prejudice on HIV
due to lack of information still caused stigmatisation on PLHIV
[People Living with HIV]. There is a trend for PLHIV who travels to
countries with restrictions to stop their treatment [ART] to avoid
entry ban. This step caused resistance to the treatment…
…All countries have to remember that all UN member states were signed
on to the International Health Regulations which does not single out
any diseases, including HIV. This regulation must be the baseline of
advocacy for treatment provision in the country. Influential countries
such as USA and China should take on the leadership on this regard and
be a good role model for other countries when they actually eliminate
the restrictions."
Now that the HHS has posted their proposed regulations, there will
be a 45 day public comment period that ends on August 17. If the
regulations are adopted after the comment period, they will then
need to be implemented. The final timeline for implementation isn’t
currently known, but some activists hope for something by the end of
the year. The blog DYM SUM says everyone will benefit if the ban is
repealed and the new regulations implemented.
"This has been a lesser issue of contention in some parts of the
GLBTQ [gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning]
community, but – without question – is equally important to other
matters that need to be addressed. Of course, it goes without saying
that lifting the HIV travel ban affects not only the GLBTQ community,
but the entire world as well."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
