Bush signs PEPFAR bill that drops ban on immigration, travel to U.S. by those with HIV

President George W. Bush signed legislation on Wednesday, July 30 that not only reauthorized the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, but also tripled funding for fighting AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the world’s poorest countries, particularly in Africa, and cleared the way for ending the ban on travel into the U.S. by HIV-positive foreigners.The measure also drops a previous clause requiring that at least one-third of the PEPFAR funds be used to promote sexual abstinence.Congress approved the measure, which increases funding for the five-year program from the $15 billion level set in 2003 to $48 billion, earlier in July.Although some sources reported that the president’s signature lifted the 21-year-old prohibition on travel into the country by those infected with HIV, those reports are inaccurate.U.S. immigration law prohibits foreigners with “any communicable disease of public health significance” from entering the U.S., but only HIV was named explicitly in the statute. For all other illnesses, the Secretary of Health and Human Services determined which ones truly posed a risk to public health.The PEPFAR reauthorization bill Bush signed this week removes that explicit mention of HIV, putting the decision on whether to ban those with the AIDS virus back within the purview of the HHS head.Passage of the bill received widespread praise from advocacy organizations for both AIDS and LGBT rights.Eric Friedman, senior global health policy advisor for Physicians for Human Rights, applauded the measure, saying that the U.S. HIV travel ban had “been an embarrassment to this country for many years.”Friedman called the bill “the boldest act of any wealthy nation in ameliorating Africa’s disastrous health care worker shortage,” by providing funds to create 140,000 jobs in that field. But he criticized PEPFAR for not linking HIV services with family planning.“That allows HIV to go unprevented and undetected for years, until a whole family is infected.”Dr. David Reznik, HIV/AIDS policy consultant for Log Cabin Republicans, praised President Bush for having done “tremendous work to combat this disease globally,” adding that the legislation will “continue dramatic improvements in the lives of millions of people” living with HIV.But Reznik also spoke of the “stark reality” of HIV in the U.S., and said political leaders “from both parties must lead a renewed effort to combat the devastating effects of this disease in our country.”LCR President Patrick Sammon agreed: “The U.S. has led the way in fighting this disease in the farthest edges of the world, but we are not doing enough here at home. We have an obligation to confront this problem head-on, and we hope that President Bush [and presidential hopefuls] Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama will show the same commitment to fighting the disease here in the U.S. that has been shown around the world.”Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, focused his comments on the HIV travel ban repeal.“The HIV travel and immigration ban performs no public service, is unnecessary and ineffective,” Solmonese said. “We thank our allies on the Hill who fought to end this injustice and now call on Secretary of Health and Human Services Leavitt to remove the remaining regulatory barriers to HIV-positive visitors and immigrants.”Joanne Lin, legislative counsel for the ACLU, called the repeal of the ban the end of a “shameful era in American immigration policy” and a “major advance for all people living with HIV/AIDS.”

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