Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - July 22, 2006
In doing so, immigration officials made scores of exceptions, all at once, to a law meant to protect the public from the spread of serious communicable diseases. They didn't do it because they wanted the tourist dollars. They did it because nobody seriously believes the HIV ban is necessary. Well, almost nobody.
Repeated attempts to lift it have failed because of opposition not from doctors, but from social conservatives.
"The ban serves absolutely no scientific purpose," says Patricia Mail, president of the American Public Health Association. The American Medical Association, the World Health Organization and a host of other health and medical groups have all opposed the ban, to no end. George Bush the elder tried to get it lifted, as did Bill Clinton. John Kerry promised he'd get rid of it, if elected.
But it was an act of Congress that added HIV to the list of diseases that bar an applicant from getting a visa, and it will take an act of Congress to remove it. And so far, politics have trumped science. Organizers of this year's Gaymes steered around potential opposition by waiting till after the 2004 election to apply for the waiver.
HIV was added to the list in 1987, at the height of AIDS hysteria. Since then we've learned a lot about how the virus is transmitted and how to prevent it. Unlike leprosy, tuberculosis and most of the other diseases on the list, HIV isn't spread through routine contact. You won't catch it just by being in the same room with someone who is infected.
As long as it's on the list, though, an HIV-positive foreigner can't legally enter the country without a waiver, which can be frustratingly hard to get--especially for, say, an individual traveling to a family wedding, instead of an athlete traveling to an international event. Savvy tourists find it easier to lie. Border inspectors aren't supposed to ask about HIV status unless there are obvious signs of illness, and many travelers correctly interpret this as another manifestation of don't ask, don't tell. That would be appalling and irresponsible if there were a genuine public health risk. But there isn't.
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