January 6, 2010 2:00pm by David Farrar

HIV testing

The United States yesterday lifted a 22-year ban on HIV-positive foreigners travelling to its shores, a restriction described by President Barack Obama as “rooted in fear rather than fact”.

It has been clear for many years that the Aids virus is not spread easily by casual contact – the original rationale for the travel ban, introduced in 1987.

The lifting of the ban now means that even asylum-seekers and people applying to become residents in the US no longer have to take a mandatory HIV test.

The lift of the ban for travelers is sensible and long overdue. HIV is not spread through casual contact.

However I am not so sure about not requiring it for those applying to be residents – purely on economic grounds. The purpose of immigration (apart from refugees) is to bring people in who will contribute more to the economy than they will cost. This tends to rule out many people with serious costly illnesses.

Maybe what they mean is they will not physically test for it, but still require a health declaration.