HIV test for immigrants dropped after fears it would encourage illegal immigration

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 25 Jul 2004 - 11:00 PDT

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The UK had planned to have HIV tests for immigrants, these plans have now been dropped as authorities fear the tests would encourage illegal immigration and push the disease underground.

There has been growing concern in the UK as more and more people are acquiring HIV from abroad. The UK Health Department was also concerned at the number of people from abroad who were coming to the UK for treatment - the so called 'Health Tourism'. Medical treatment is free in the UK.

The Cabinet was looking at the possibility of having immigrants screened for HIV as part of the visa process.

However, the idea has attracted mounting criticism. Some people in the government say the measure would be racist, as most of the people targeted would be Africans, where HIV rates are the highest.

Rather than announce that they are dropping the plan, the UK government has quietly shelved it. Some government ministers say the main concern was that immigrants who know they may have the infection would try to enter the UK illegally if they knew they were going to be tested before they came.

The UK Home Office (Ministry of the Interior) was worried that having mandatory HIV tests for would-be immigrants would increase demand for forged documents in such countries as Zimbabwe.

17,000 people in the UK are thought to be infected without knowing they are infected. Health professionals say that making HIV tests compulsory for would-be immigrants would have a bad impact on this number - it would go up dramatically.

Undoubtedly, this measure, or lack of measure, will provoke a public outcry from people who have been asking for more protection for Britain against imported infections of HIV/AIDS. Many cannot understand why the UK dithers about something that countries such as the USA, Canada and Australia do routinely.