Hey Dr. Bob,

What is going on with the US Travel Ban on HIVers???? I thought the US Congress lifted the ban last year???? I just heard HIV folks are still having trouble getting a visa to the USA. What gives?????

Josh

Hi Josh,

As it turns out, the U.S. is apparently still in the process of lifting the ban on HIV-positive foreigners and immigrants. You are correct: Last year Congress did repeal the law that banned HIV-positive folks. But unfortunately the government's actual list of "communicable diseases of public health significance" was not amended for visa purposes! Once Congress repealed the ban, it was up to the Bush administration to appropriately amend its list. Not surprisingly, Bush and Cheney consciously decided not to care and purposely left HIV on the list! Apparently they were too busy totally screwing up the economy, education, health care, the environment, international relations and, well, the whole world (better yet, make that the entire universe) to attend to this detail. It's now one more thing on President Obama's extremely long to-do list. The Bush legacy is now unquestionably confirmed: "W" stands for "Worst ever" president!

Stay tuned, we'll keep you posted as this sad saga finally comes to an end.

Dr. Bob