Obama To Lift Travel Ban On People With HIV

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 03 Nov 2009 - 4:00 PST

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President Obama on Friday announced the end of a 22-year travel ban against people living with HIV, the New York Times reports. The president previously pledged to eliminate the ban before the end of the year, saying it is "rooted in fear rather than fact." He said that a rule to lift the ban would be published on Monday and take effect after a standard 60-day waiting period (Preston, New York Times, 10/31). Obama made the announcement while signing a bill (S 1793) to reauthorize the Ryan White Program, which provides federal assistance to low-income people living with HIV/AIDS (Holland, Reuters, 10/30).

The ban was enacted in 1987 and requires U.S. health officials to list HIV as a "communicable disease of public health significance." The ban in practice particularly has affected tourists and men who have sex with men, according to the Times. Although waivers are available, the procedure for HIV-positive, short-term visitors was complicated, leading many not to apply (New York Times, 10/31).

The ban effectively prevented thousands of students, tourists and refugees from entering the country and complicated the adoption process for children with HIV. In addition, no major international HIV/AIDS conference has been held in the U.S. since 1993 because many HIV-positive researchers and advocates cannot enter the country (Superville, AP/Boston Globe, 10/31). Some advocates said that the ban also discourages travelers and some foreigners already living in the U.S. from taking an HIV/AIDS test or seeking medical care (New York Times, 10/31).

The ban places the U.S. among about 11 other countries that block HIV-positive visitors (AP/Boston Globe, 10/31). When the ban is lifted, visitors and immigrants will not be required to take an HIV test. Obama said, "If we want to be a global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it," adding, "Now, we talk about reducing the stigma of this disease, yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat" (New York Times, 10/31). Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who co-authored legislation that the Senate passed last year to lift the ban, said the ban is "discriminatory" and has "gone the way of the dinosaur, and we're glad it's finally extinct" (AP/Boston Globe, 10/31).

International health officials said that repealing the ban would give HIV/AIDS researchers from various countries the freedom to visit the U.S., which would allow for conferences in the coming years. Socorro Gorss, assistant director of the Pan American Health Organization, said, "We think this is going to give a very positive image of where the U.S. is going in terms of eliminating stigma and discrimination in relation to HIV" (New York Times, 10/31).

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