On Friday, UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said travel restrictions based on a person's HIV status show the "exceptionality of AIDS." "No other condition prevents people from entering countries for business, tourism or to attend meetings," he said.
"No other condition has people afraid of having their baggage searched for medication at the border, with the result that they are denied entry or worse, detained and then deported back to their country," said Piot.
Some 74 nations currently impose HIV-related travel restrictions, with 13 completely banning people with the disease from entering.
In addition, people living with HIV/AIDS while in their destination country can face deportation, "often without confidentiality and into situations of great discrimination and economic devastation," UNAIDS said.
On Feb. 25 and 26 in Geneva, an international task force on HIV-related travel restrictions - including UN agencies and intergovernmental groups, civil society, and HIV/AIDS advocates - met for the first time. The task force intends to call for the lifting of travel-related bans at several upcoming meetings, including a high-level meeting on AIDS at the UN General Assembly in New York in June, and at the Global Forum on Migration and Development in October in the Philippines.
"We hope that their combined efforts will. influence governments to remove such restrictions," said a statement from UNAIDS, which co-chairs the task force with the Norwegian government.
03/07/08
UNAIDS Calls for Lifting of HIV-Related Travel Restrictions
Source: Agence France Presse; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention