UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé congratulated the President of the Comoros, Ikililou Dhoinine, on the leadership he has shown in the AIDS response and on a new law his country recently adopted that further protects people living with HIV. Their meeting took place in Moroni on 24 July 2014.

President Dhoinine highlighted that the new law confirms that there are no restrictions on entry, stay or residence for people living with HIV and guarantees access to antiretroviral treatment for all, showing his and his country’s commitment to strengthening the protection of people living with HIV.

President Dhoinine and Mr Sidibé also discussed the role that the Comoros can play in the regional HIV response as a State member of the Indian Ocean Commission. Mr Sidibé encouraged President Dhoinine to advocate national ownership, regional solidarity and increased domestic investment to sustain the AIDS response.

During his three-day visit to the country, Mr Sidibé met with the Vice-President, the President of the National Assembly and the First Lady. Mr. Sidibé also visited a prenatal care centre and met with civil society representatives.

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Law confirms no restrictions on entry, stay or residence and guarantees access to treatment for all.

GENEVA, 24 July 2014—UNAIDS welcomes new HIV legislation in the Comoros that protects people living with HIV from all forms of discrimination and reinforces an enabling legal environment for prevention, treatment, care and support programmes.

The new law, which came into force in June 2014, explicitly protects the free movement of people living with HIV and prohibits any restriction on entry, stay or residence based on HIV status.

Among other provisions, the law guarantees that HIV treatment is available to nationals and non-nationals living with HIV. It also ensures that people in prisons and other closed settings have access to HIV prevention and treatment services. Mandatory HIV testing as a condition of employment and termination of employment because of a person’s HIV status are prohibited.

“More countries need to follow the bold and inclusive example of the Comoros, ensuring that no one is denied opportunities because of their HIV status,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Comprehensive HIV prevention and treatment programmes, underpinned by an enabling legal environment, will help make it possible to end the epidemic by 2030,” he added.

With the recent clarification received from the Government of the Comoros, UNAIDS counts 38 countries, territories and areas that still have HIV-related restrictions on entry, stay and residence.

HIV treated as other chronic conditions in immigration health assessment.

GENEVA, 10 July 2014—UNAIDS welcomes confirmation from the Government of Australia that people living with HIV do not face an automatic exclusion, or unequal treatment when applying for entry, stay or residence visas. People living with HIV are treated similarly to other people with chronic health conditions and disabilities during the country’s immigration health assessment process. Applications for visas from people living with HIV will be assessed against criteria applying to anyone with a chronic health condition.

The announcement came ahead of the 20th International AIDS Conference, which will take place in Melbourne, Australia, from 20 to 25 July 2014.

“People living with HIV need equal opportunity to contribute to and benefit from today’s globalized world, where migration is increasingly important. Eliminating travel restrictions is not only a human right for individuals, it improves business prospects for communities,” said the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé.

UNAIDS advocates for the right to equal freedom of movement, regardless of HIV status. There is no evidence that restrictions on the entry, stay or residence of people living with HIV protect the public’s health. In 2012, more than 40 chief executives from some of the world’s largest companies signed a pledge opposing HIV restrictions, calling them discriminatory and bad for business.

As part of its ongoing dialogue with countries on this issue, UNAIDS has sent communications to all countries, territories and areas that appear to have HIV-related entry, stay and residence restrictions, and has raised the issue during official high-level visits. Australia has made important reforms to its migration health assessment requirements and procedures since the conclusion of a parliamentary inquiry on migration and disability in 2010, including an annual increase to the “significant cost threshold”, the elimination of the cost assessment related to health services for humanitarian visa applicants and improvements to increase the transparency of the health assessment process. These reforms were assessed against the criteria outlined by the International Task Team on HIV-related Travel Restrictions, co-chaired by the Government of Norway and UNAIDS,  and it was concluded that Australia had met the task team’s standard.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners to maximize results for the AIDS response. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

GENEVA, 28 March 2014—UNAIDS welcomes the recent lifting of all restrictions on entry, stay and residence for people living with HIV in Tajikistan. The amendments to the Law on HIV/AIDS were signed by the President of Tajikistan Emomalii Rahmon, on 14 March 2014.

Restrictions that limit an individual’s movement based solely on HIV-positive status are discriminatory and violate human rights. There is no evidence that such restrictions protect public health or prevent HIV transmission. Furthermore, HIV-related travel restrictions have no economic justification, as people living with HIV can lead long and productive working lives.

Tajikistan’s updated law removes mandatory HIV testing for all foreigners, including the personnel of foreign missions, refugees and stateless people. With these changes, all HIV-related restrictions on entry, stay and residence are eliminated in Tajikistan. UNAIDS will continue to work with Tajikistan to support a comprehensive and human rights-based response to the HIV epidemic.

With the removal of Tajikistan’s restrictions, UNAIDS counts 40 countries, territories, and areas that impose some form of restriction on the entry, stay and residence based on HIV status. 

No travel restrictions in Andorra and Slovakia confirmed.

GENEVA, 21 October 2013—The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) welcomes the recent lifting of all restrictions on entry, stay and residence for people living with HIV in Uzbekistan. The reforms were passed by Parliament in August of 2013 and signed by the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, on 23 September 2013.

“I welcome this important milestone in Uzbekistan and I hope this will encourage other countries to take similar action towards a world with zero HIV-related stigma and discrimination,” said the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé.

UNAIDS advocates for the right to equal freedom of movement—regardless of HIV status. There is no evidence that restrictions on the entry, stay or residence of people living with HIV protect the public’s health.

As part of its on-going dialogue with countries on this issue, in July 2013, UNAIDS sent official communications to all countries, territories and areas that appeared to have HIV-related entry, stay and residence restrictions. Through this exercise, new information was received from Andorra and the Slovak Republic, indicating that there are no HIV-related restrictions in these countries. 

With the removal of Uzbekistan’s restrictions, and confirmation that there are no restrictions in Andorra and Slovakia—UNAIDS counts 41 countries, territories, and areas that impose some form of restriction on the entry, stay and residence based on HIV status. These include: Aruba, Australia, Bahrain, Belarus, Belize, Brunei Darussalam, Comoros, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Qatar, Russian Federation, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Chinese Taipei, Tajikistan, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. 

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners to maximize results for the AIDS response. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.