In June 1987, the U.S. Public Health Service added AIDS to a list of diseases considered dangerous and contagious. People who had a confirmed diagnosis of the disease were not allowed to travel inside the United States. A month later, congress added HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS, to the list. The Senate later also approved the amendment. Because it was approved by lawmakers, it became difficult to remove the disease from the list.
Elsewhere in the world, hundreds of countries have no restrictions on travelers living with AIDS.
Those countries include Austrailia, France, Norway and New Zealand, just to name a few.
In these countries, travelers are not required to disclose if they are living with AIDS or HIV before entering the country.
As of 2010, only 10 countries continue to ban people living with AIDS from entering the country. They include Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, Sudan,
United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Seventeen countries allow people living with AIDS to enter the country, but place restrictions on those coming for visits less than 90 days. Many of the countries that restrict entry also restrict short-term visitors. Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Malaysia are some of the other countries that have the short-term restrictions.
Many more countries restrict AIDS patients form long-term stays, including immigration into countries. In addition to concerns about infecting the population, the countries have expressed concern with the cost of providing health care to AIDS patients.
Human rights groups have fought the restrictive measures for AIDS patients, based on the belief that it increases the stigma of the disease. Other arguments these groups have made argue that the isolation of foreigners with the disease may lead people living in countries with the bans to believe that AIDS is not a problem at home.
An International Task Team on travel restrictions was created to bring awareness to the issue and lobby to remove the restrictions.
In 2009, President Barack Obama lifted the 22-year-old ban on allowing people to enter the United States who were infected with HIV or AIDS.
The change took effect in January 2010. Months later, China also lifted its 20-year-old policy that banned AIDS patients from entering the country.
