Vice Minister of Health Huang Jiefu and the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria announced Thursday that China will rescind immigration laws that prevent HIV-positive people from traveling to the country.
"China has decided to change its immigrations laws, scrapping travel restrictions," said Global Fund's Michel Kazatchkine. "The new law, which hopefully will be passed in the coming months, will be in line with the global conventions, which recognize that travel restrictions for HIV-positive people do not have any public health value."
The restrictions have blocked people with HIV/AIDS from entering China to attend conferences on the disease and are viewed as reinforcing HIV/AIDS stigma. In addition, some Chinese patients have been barred from leaving the country to attend conferences, and some local authorities also impose restrictions.
Jiefu and Kazatchkine made the announcement at the signing of $5.8 million, two-year grant aimed at strengthening non-governmental and civil society organizations to improve AIDS-prevention efforts in China.
Jiefu did not provide a timeline for the change but said China is committed to lifting the restrictions. "Modifying laws and regulations is quite a complicated process and it takes some time," he said. "But I would like to ask the international community and the media to rest assured that China would honor its commitment."
11/08/07
CHINA: China to Ease Travel Restrictions on HIV Carriers
Source: Reuters:: Lindsay Beck; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention