HIV Travel Ban To Be Finally Lifted

The United States' ban on immigration for HIV+ persons is finally about to be history. The Customs and Immigration Service has advised workers to stand by for the ruling.

Currently HIV qualifies as an exclusionary communicable disease, and applications may be turned down by the US authorities if a person wishing to travel to the country, or settle there permanently, is HIV positive. The policy was overturned last year in what became known as the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008, but the Bush administration did not enact the new rules before leaving office. The Health and Human Services body published the regulations this summer, and is currently reviewing public comment. Commentators have suggested that the pausing of green card applications which come down to the applicant's HIV status is a strong indicator that the rule change will be implemented soon, and that HIV will be removed from the list of exclusionary communicable diseases.

More on the story here.