President Bush
has called for an easing of the ban on
HIV-positive foreigners entering the United
States without a special waiver, the San
Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday.
The ban
originated in 1993 when Congress enacted legislation
prohibiting HIV-positive foreigners from receiving
visas or citizenship. As a result, the biannual
International AIDS Conferences have not met in the United
States since the San Francisco meeting in 1990.
The White House
announced on World AIDS Day that Bush would issue an
executive order allowing HIV-positive people to enter the
country on standard short-term tourist or business
visas for visits up to 60 days. It was unclear whether
foreigners would still have to declare their HIV
status, as they are asked to do now.
"It's a step away
from a terribly discriminatory and inappropriate
policy, but it doesn't go far enough," said Leonard
Rubenstein, executive director of Physicians for Human
Rights, in Washington, D.C. "This is a treatable
disease. If you want to remove stigma from AIDS, you
have to go the whole distance and eliminate all restrictions
on entry to the United States for people with HIV."
(The Advocate)