WASHINGTON, July 30, 2008 (AFP) - US gay rights activists on Wednesday hailed President George W. Bush for signing legislation to fight AIDS, which lifts a ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants from entering the United States.
"We appreciate the president signing the repeal of this unjust and sweeping policy that deems HIV-positive individuals inadmissible to the United States," said Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese.
"The HIV travel and immigration ban performs no public health service, is unnecessary and ineffective," he added.
US President George W. Bush signed legislation Wednesday tripling funds to fight the killer diseases of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the world's poorest countries, mainly in Africa.
Congress approved a package earlier this month which lifted funding for the five-year program from 15 billion dollars, set in 2003, to the 48 billion dollars signed into law by Bush.
The ban on HIV-positive foreigners entering the United States had been in place since 1987.
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