United Nations Urges HIV Travel Ban Lift
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...By Seyi Oduyela
Published: November 2, 2009
Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary-General
United Nations Urges HIV Travel Ban Lift
Seyi Oduyela/Washington, DC
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged countries worldwide to remove travel restrictions for HIV-positive people. The call comes after US president Barack Obama announced a decades-old US travel ban on HIV-positive non-US citizens would be officially lifted today. HIV-positive visitors will effectively be allowed entry to the US from early 2010. The UN has hailed the decision and urged other countries to follow the example. South Korea, China and Ukraine are some of the nations already considering the suspension of similar restrictions, according to UNAIDS. Human Rights Watch also welcomed the announcement, stressing that travel or residence restrictions on HIV-positive people are discriminatory, violate fundamental rights and impede effective responses to HIV by fostering misinformation and stigma.
