[hivaids-twg] UN WELCOMES UNITED STATES REMOVAL OF ENTRY RESTRICTION BASED ON HIV STATUS

[HIV-TWG Moderator]

From: UNNews <UNNews at un.org>
Date: Sat, Oct 31, 2009 at 7:05 AM
Subject: UN WELCOMES UNITED STATES REMOVAL OF ENTRY RESTRICTION BASED ON HIV
STATUS



UN WELCOMES UNITED STATES REMOVAL OF ENTRY RESTRICTION BASED ON HIV STATUS
New York, Oct 30 2009  8:05PM
The United Nations agency spearheading the world body’s efforts to tackle
the HIV/AIDS pandemic today welcomed the decision of the United States to
remove 22-year-old entry restrictions based on HIV status.

Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (<"
http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp">UNAIDS), issued a <"
http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/Resources/PressCentre/PressReleases/2009/20091030_PS_Entry_restrictions_removed_US.asp">statement
saying the move by US President Barack Obama overturns a restriction that
was discriminatory and did not protect public health.

“Today’s announcement reinforces the position of the US as a global leader
in HIV policy and practice,” Mr. Sidibé said. “This policy change is a
significant step forward by the United States towards promoting human rights
in the AIDS response.”

The statement noted that the US Government had already concluded that
maintaining HIV status on a list of excludable entry conditions would not
result in public health benefits and contributed towards the stigmatization
of HIV-infected people.

Mr. Obama announced the change today as he signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS
Treatment Extension Act of 2009, which has provided treatment and support
services to people living with HIV since 1990.

The legislation is named after Ryan White, a teenage boy who became a
nationally known figure in the US in the 1980s as he battled discrimination
and ostracism after contracting HIV from a contaminated blood treatment. He
died in 1990.

Mr. Sidibé said UNAIDS described the Ryan White programme “as an integral
part of the global AIDS response and a gesture of the United States towards
achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support
for people within the United States living with HIV.”
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