« G8 Plans Its Own AIDS Funding | Main | Challenge to Anti-Prostitution Pledge »
June 01, 2007
A Step Backward
Australia's health and immigration ministers are urging the country to require HIV-positive migrants to report to local authorities or risk losing their visas.
At this point, even the United States is trying to ease its ban on HIV-positive foreigners. The ban dates from a time when HIV was less understood, and treatment nonexistent. It was also used to stigmatize the infected, particularly gays and drug users who were first hit by the disease. So now, with treatment and prevention options widely available, advocates are wondering why a developed country like Australia would seek a ban. The head of the International AIDS Society blames ongoing prejudice and says a ban would be a "blatant violation of basic human rights" directed at people who have done more than most to push treatment and research.
Posted by Adam Graham-Silverman at June 1, 2007 05:13 PM