Back in September, it was reported here that the travel ban to the US for people with HIV may be coming to an end. Finally, after 22 years, the ban is to be lifted.

 

On 30 October, 2009, US President Barack Obama announced that the ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants entering the US will be lifted. The administration published a final rule eliminating the travel ban on Monday, 2 November. The rule will come into effect in January 2010. 

 

At the signing of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009, President Obama said: “I’m proud to announce today we’re about to take another step towards ending that stigma. Twenty-two years ago, in a decision rooted in fear rather than fact, the United States instituted a travel ban on entry into the country for people living with HIV/AIDS. Now, we talk about reducing the stigma of this disease – yet we’ve treated a visitor living with it as a threat. We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic – yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country.

 

“If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it. And that’s why, on Monday, my administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel ban, effective just after the New Year. Congress and President Bush began this process last year, and they ought to be commended for it. We are finishing the job. It’s a step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment, it’s a step that will keep families together, and it’s a step that will save lives.”