[hivaids-twg] People living with HIV celebrate US lifting HIV travel and immigration ban

Tue Nov 3 04:23:19 GMT 2009

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: martindokki <mstolk at gnpplus.net>
Date: Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 2:54 AM
Subject: [AIDS ASIA] People living with HIV celebrate US lifting HIV travel
and immigration ban
To: AIDS_ASIA at yahoogroups.com

The United States Government today announced the lifting of HIV related
entry, stay and residency restrictions. The ruling confirmed that HIV
infection will be officially removed from the definition of communicable
diseases of public health significance as of January 1st, 2010. The Deutsche
AIDS-Hilfe (DAH), European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) and the Global
Network of People living with HIV (GNP+) congratulate the United States
Government on fulfilling its promise and completing the legal procedure that
was started by former President Bush on World AIDS Day 2007.

"This is a great victory for the fight against the worldwide discrimination
of people living with HIV", says Peter Wiessner from the Deutsche
AIDS-Hilfe: "I remember times where we never thought that this would happen.
This is an emotional moment and it feels a bit like the fall of the Berlin
wall."

DAH, EATG and GNP+ have long argued that HIV specific restrictions on entry,
stay and residence are not only stigmatizing and discriminatory, but are
also ineffective for public health protection and prevention purposes.

"Lifting the ban is a great step forward in the battle against stigma and
discrimination against people living with HIV," stated Kevin Moody,
International Coordinator and CEO of GNP+.

"This groundbreaking move is the result of joint advocacy efforts by
countless activists in the United States and around the globe over many
years," reported David Haerry of the EATG. "It is a strong message to other
countries maintaining stigmatizing restrictions today, such as Russia,
China, Australia and Canada."

DAH, EATG and GNP+ commend the United States Government for its commitment
to lead diplomatic efforts to lift HIV specific entry, stay and residency
restrictions in other countries. There are multiple countries that could be
spurred to deliver on their commitments: For example, China never delivered
on the promises made in 2007 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and
Malaria to lift immigration restrictions[i] and both Namibia and South Korea
have not yet fulfilled their promise to review their restrictive
legislations[ii].

"Let's not forget that even after the United States decision, we count more
than 60 countries having stigmatizing entry or residency restrictions,
including some in Western and Eastern Europe," Peter Wiessner said: "27
countries deport people on the grounds of having an HIV infection."

While the lifting of the United States entry ban is an important decision,
there remain many loose ends. According to DAH, EATG and GNP+, the United
States government should direct its immigration services to protect privacy
and erase all information with regards to the HIV status of people from its
immigration databases.

In addition, it is hoped that the United States criminal justice system is
paying close attention. Kevin Moody: "We hope realistic information on the
ways HIV gets transmitted will also filter through to United States criminal
justice system, where saliva of a person living with HIV is still regarded
as a deadly weapon, often resulting in ridiculously long prison sentences
for spitting or biting." [iii]

DAH, EATG and GNP+ want to recognize the enormous efforts by activists and
diplomats inside the United States as well as outside to change these
legislations. Precious support was provided by Congress woman Barbara Lee
(California) and Senator Kerry. Special mention should be made of the
Government of Norway and UNAIDS , that jointly led the International Task
Team on HIV-related Travel Restrictions.

For more information contact:

Deutsche AIDS Hilfe: Peter Wiessner, +49-221-80 14 96 36 (German, English)

European AIDS Treatment Group: David Hans U. Haerry, +41-31-352 3210,
david at eatg.org <david%40eatg.org> (French, English, German, Spanish)

Global Network of People living with HIV: Martin Stolk, Communications
Officer, +31-6-1991 2406, mstolk at gnpplus.net <mstolk%40gnpplus.net> (Dutch,
English)

The Deutsche AIDS Hilfe and EATG collaborate with the International AIDS
Society IAS on the Global Database of HIV-specific Travel Restrictions
www.hivtravel.org

DAH, EATG and GNP+ have been regular partners advocating against HIV related
discriminatory measures such as travel restrictions.

References:
i]DAH, EATG (2009). Peoples Republic of China: Unmet promises to the Global
Fund. http://www.aidshilfe.de/media/de/DAH-EATG-letter-China.pdf

[ii] GNP+ (2009). Namibia will lift Travel Restrictions for PLHIV.
http://www.gnpplus.net/content/view/1492/34/

[iii]On October 27, 2009, a woman living with HIV in Pennsylvania got
sentenced for up to ten years imprisonment for spitting at another person.
Last year a person living with HIV got sentenced to thirty years
imprisonment for the same offence. More cases can be found at:
http://criminalhivtransmission.blogspot.com/search/label/spitting

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