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PRESIDENT BUSH LIFTS HIV ENTRY BAN
Targets Global HIV Prevention towards Gay and Bisexual Men
New York, NY — Today President Bush signed into law a five-year authorization of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) that lifts the 15 year-old HIV entry ban and targets prevention towards men who have sex with men (MSM). The legislation authorizes $48 billion to be spent on foreign AIDS relief over the next five years. Since 2003, PEPFAR has provided HIV medications to nearly two million people, mostly in Africa.
Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) applauds Congress and the President for approvals of two specific provisions within PEPFAR. The legislation removes the statutory ban on HIV-positive non-citizens gaining immigration status and travel visas originally proposed by the late Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) and codified into law in 1993. The U.S. was one among only 13 countries to ban short-term HIV-positive visitors. Until the final call to pass the bill, conservative policymakers threatened to propose amendments to strike the language that lifts the ban. The decision to completely remove the ban now rests within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as HIV remains on a list of "communicable diseases of public health significance."
"Today the United States rejoined the civilized world, at least on this aspect of immigration policy," said Marjorie J. Hill, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Gay Men's Health Crisis. "We thank President Bush and Congress, and especially Senators Kerry, Smith and Congresswoman Lee, for their leadership. We call on HHS Secretary Leavitt to remove the remaining regulatory barriers that prevent people living with HIV from entering the United States."
GMHC has been pushing to overturn the statutory ban for more than a decade. Recently, GMHC convened the Coalition to Lift the Bar and worked closely with Immigration Equality, AIDS Action Council, Human Rights Campaign and other groups to repeal the HIV entry ban.
PEPFAR now includes provisions that require recipient countries to conduct HIV-prevention programs for gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), and report to the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator on progress with this implementation.
This unprecedented requirement will require address health disparities of MSM in countries, many of which have anti-gay laws and cultural practices. GMHC, along with AIDS Project Los Angeles and other groups, led the fight for the MSM provisions.
"The passage of PEPFAR is a significant contribution in the global fight against AIDS. It will provide treatment to millions of impoverished HIV-positive children and families across the globe," said Dr. Hill. "Where this legislation fails is in the realm of HIV prevention."
The requirement remains that countries must spend 50 percent of their prevention funding on unproven abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Or they undergo burdensome reporting to justify their programmatic decisions which could lead to possible defunding. The legislation fails to support integration between family planning services and HIV prevention/treatment programs for vulnerable populations — women and youth. Lastly, countries still have to oppose commercial sex work before receiving funding. Yet many prevention programs for sex workers around the world have proven to dramatically reduce HIV infection.
"Abstinence-only-until-marriage has been an abject failure in the U.S. and it is undercutting the local, effective prevention efforts in Africa and elsewhere," added Dr. Hill.
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Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) is a not-for-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based organization committed to national leadership in the fight against AIDS. We provide services and programs to over 15,000 men, women and families that are living with or affected by HIV/AIDS in New York City, and outreach and education to hundreds of thousands throughout the world.
© 2008 Gay Men's Health Crisis
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