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Ibekwe Alexnder [ Profil ] |
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US May Lift Entry Ban on HIV Patients
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Jul 21st, 2009 - 11:37:53 |
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or more than two decades, anybody who is HIV positive has been
prevented from entering the United States. But with President Barack
Obama’s support, the ban will likely expire soon, with the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) taking public comments until
August 17. The department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will then
make the final decision.
“We’re trying to end the stigma and the discriminatory practice for
a disease that doesn’t warrant exclusion for coming into this country,”
said the director of the CDC’s division of global migration and
quarantine, Dr. Martin Cetron. “We have to appreciate this is not a
threat we face from abroad.” He acknowledged that “HIV is clearly a
public health disease of significance,” but added that simply letting
somebody with HIV into the country does not “immediately pose a risk to
the public.”
The proposal could allow an average of about 5,000 HIV-infected people
into the United States each year. And according to a CDC estimate
published in the federal register, the lifetime medical costs of those
admitted in just the first year would total almost $100 million. The
United States is one of about 15 countries that prevent entry of
HIV-positive patients, though it is possible to obtain a waiver under
certain conditions.
Critics of the proposed regulation change are mainly worried about the
cost or that infected immigrants and travelers could spread the
disease. “It becomes a matter of collective responsibility,” explained
Ira Mehlman, a spokesperson for the Federation for American Immigration
Reform, a nonprofit organization which usually advocates stricter
immigration law. “The American people shouldn’t be in a position where
they have to pay for it.”
Congress voted to rescind the ban over a year ago under an AIDS-reform
package pushed by then-President George Bush, but HHS has not yet
removed AIDS and HIV from the so-called “no entry” list. Once removed,
the HIV test would no longer be part of routine medical exams required
for immigration or certain travel visas. Other diseases that bar entry
include infectious leprosy, gonorrhea, syphilis, and active
tuberculosis, among others.
“I sincerely hope we can continue to work in a bipartisan manner with
the help of the public health, religious, LGBT and immigration groups
to make this proposed rule final as soon as possible,” Senator John
Kerry explained in a statement, referring to lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender groups (LGBT). He is widely acknowledged to be one of
the key drivers of the proposal. But homosexual groups have certainly
pitched in, as have some health officials and immigration
organizations.
Victoria Neilson, legal director for the homosexual and transgender
immigration lobbying organization Immigration Equality, noted that
“ending the HIV travel and immigration ban removes a federally
sanctioned stigma and sends a strong, clear message that the United
States is working to end discrimination against people living with
HIV.” The organization’s director of communications also noted that
there have not been any major HIV/AIDS conferences because of the ban,
and claims “it has undermined our commitment to equality.”
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest homosexual lobby, also
supports the measure. “This regulation is unnecessary, ineffective and
lacks any public health justification,” said the organization’s
president, Joe Solmonese. “We are confident that this sad chapter in
our nation's treatment of people with HIV and AIDS will soon be closed.”
One of the experts who support lifting the ban is Dr. Michael Saag, the
incoming chairman of the HIV Medicine Association and the head of
University of Alabama’s division of infectious diseases. After
explaining that the ban was enacted when people and politicians
mistakenly believed the virus could be spread by casual contact, he
called the ban “a bit of an embarrassment.” He also added that he did
not believe there was any scientific or public health rationale for the
ban.
Among the critics of allowing the HIV-positive into America is John
Vinson, the president of the American Immigration Control Foundation.
“It seems rather odd to let people in with a health problem like that,”
he said, noting that people have desires and may spread the disease in
America. “Why bring on a problem on yourself when you don’t have to?”
The HHS cannot put a cost estimate on this legislation other than to
say it would likely cost millions. This seems to be more of the same
type of legislation that has led us to the point where the federal
government has over an estimated $60 trillion in unfunded future
obligations.
**************************************** Ibekwe Alexander,
Association of Positive Youth in Nigeria (APYIN)
Director, Health Link Org. alexodegreat.tigblog.org Poverty is not Lack of Money, But it is lack of knowledge and Ability. Reject it *****************************************************************************
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