UNAIDS Calls for End of HIV Travel Restrictions  | Health News | Advocate.com

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June 18, 2008
UNAIDS Calls for End of HIV Travel Restrictions

At the opening of a two-day meeting in the General Assembly of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon called for an end to all discrimination against people with HIV or AIDS, including travel restrictions imposed on them by some countries.

"I call for a change in laws that uphold stigma and discrimination, including restrictions on travel for people living with HIV," he said.

A letter signed by 345 nongovernmental organizations was sent to leaders and ambassadors of concerned countries to urge them to lift the restrictions.

According to UNAIDS, 74 countries place restrictive measures on HIV-positive citizens, including noting the disease on their passports.

Twelve nations prohibit entry to anyone carrying the AIDS virus: Armenia, Colombia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sudan, the United States, and Yemen.

Most of these countries claim there are public-health concerns that justify the restrictions. (The Advocate) 

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