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Article: Obama lifts HIV travel ban
- Article from:
- Oakland Tribune
- Article date:
- October 30, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Oakland Tribune. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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President Barack Obama announced Friday the lifting of a travel
ban on visitors with HIV and AIDS, ending a 22-year policy he said
was "rooted in fear rather than fact."
Though it was conceived during the Reagan administration as a
bulwark against a contagious disease, most health experts have long
panned the policy, which bars travelers and immigrants with the
virus from entering the United States.
"We talk about reducing the stigma of this disease, yet we've
treated a visitor living with it as a threat," Obama said at a White
House news conference. "We lead the world when it comes to helping
stem the AIDS pandemic, yet we are one of only a dozen countries
that still bar people with HIV ...