subject: Hiv Travel Ban Lifted [print this page] The Department of Health and Human Services has lifted the HIV travel ban that prevented people infected with the Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV) from entering the United States. Earlier, visitors and immigrants to USA who had tested positive for HIV were barred entry, provided a waiver was granted by the Department of Homeland Security.
Applicants for USA Immigration and Visas were subject to a list of medical examinations, including HIV infection examination. A final rule to delete it from this list as well as the list of communicable diseases of public health significance has been issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Various officials have supported this action saying that its high time one ends the social stigma attached to this disease. It certainly does not deserve forbidding entry to the country and allowing an infected person into the country should not pose a health risk to the nation.
President Obama at the signing ceremony for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act said that the HIV Travel Ban made in 1987, was a decision rooted in fear rather than fact. If USA was to be a world leader in HIV, then it had to act like one. Henceforth, no alien who wants to visit or migrate to USA can be prevented by USA Immigration from doing so on the grounds of having this disease, because, though serious, this disease is not spread by casual contact and hence does not signify a major public health risk.
The HIV Travel Ban will be lifted from January 4, 2010. Meanwhile, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Bureau has asked its officials to suspend decisions on green card applications that were pending due to the HIV status of the applicant. So being HIV positive can no longer be criteria for barring a person from entry to the United States.
