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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=5 color=white face=Arial><span
style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;letter-spacing:3.0pt'>PRESS
RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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color=white face=Arial><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:white;letter-spacing:3.0pt'>09<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<td><img width=604 height=46 src="cid:image001.gif@01CA5B99.6C25F030" v:shapes="_x0000_s1031 _x0000_s1032 _x0000_s1033 _x0000_s1034 _x0000_s1035"></td>
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</span><![endif]><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.5pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:6.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
6.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:14.0pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:-.1in;margin-bottom:
6.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:14.0pt'><b><font size=4 face=Arial><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>UN
Secretary-General urges countries to follow the United States and lift travel
restrictions for people living with HIV</span></font></b><span lang=EN-GB><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:14.0pt'><st1:City
w:st="on"><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Geneva</span></font></b></st1:City><b><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>/<st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State>,
31 October, 2009 </span></font></b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>—
UNAIDS welcomes President Obama’s announcement of the final rule removing
entry restrictions based on HIV status from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> policy. The removal of
HIV-related travel restrictions in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> overturns a policy that had been
in place since 1987. Such restrictions, strongly opposed by UNAIDS, are
discriminatory and do not protect public health. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:14.0pt'><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>“I congratulate President Obama on announcing the
removal of the travel restrictions for people living with HIV from entering the
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>,”
said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “I urge all other
countries with such restrictions to take steps to remove them at the
earliest.” </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:14.0pt'><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>The United Nations Secretary-General has made the removal of
stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV a personal issue. He
called for the removal of travel restrictions for the first time in his address
to the General Assembly during the High Level Meeting on AIDS in 2008.
“That</span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'> they should be
discriminated against, including through restrictions on their ability to
travel between countries should fill us all with shame,” said
Secretary-General Ban in a speech to the Global AIDS Conference in August last
year. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:14.0pt'><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>At his request, several countries including his home
country, the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Republic</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Korea</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>, are in the last
stages of removing travel restrictions. Other countries that are considering
removal of travel restrictions include <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>
and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Ukraine</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
In 2008, the UNAIDS board strongly encouraged all countries to eliminate
HIV-specific restrictions on entry, stay and residence and ensure that people
living with HIV are no longer excluded, detained or deported on the basis of
HIV status. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:14.0pt'><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>“Placing travel restrictions on people living with HIV
has no public health justification. It is also a violation of human
rights,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “We hope
that other countries that still have travel restrictions will remove them at the
earliest.” </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:14.0pt'><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black'>Nearly 59 countries impose some form of travel restrictions
on people living with HIV. The International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human
Rights state that any restriction on liberty of movement or choice of residence
based on suspected or real HIV status alone, including HIV screening of
international travellers, is discriminatory. Travel restrictions do not have an
economic justification either. People living with HIV can now lead long and
productive working lives, a fact that modifies the economic argument underlying
blanket restrictions; concern about migrants’ drain on health resources
must be weighed with their potential contribution.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;
line-height:16.0pt'><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;
line-height:16.0pt'><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Contact: <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:-7.55pt;line-height:16.0pt'><font
size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial'>UNAIDS
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Geneva</st1:City></st1:place> </span></font><b><font
color="#cc0000"><span lang=EN-GB style='color:#CC0000;font-weight:bold'>| </span></font></b><font
size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Sophie
Barton Knott </span></font><b><font color="#cc0000"><span lang=EN-GB
style='color:#CC0000;font-weight:bold'>|</span></font></b><font color="#cc0000"><span
lang=EN-GB style='color:#CC0000'> </span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial'>tel. +</span></font><span
lang=EN-GB> </span>4<font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.5pt;font-family:Arial'>1 22 791 1697 </span></font><b><font color="#cc0000"><span
lang=EN-GB style='color:#CC0000;font-weight:bold'>|</span></font></b><font
color="#cc0000"><span lang=EN-GB style='color:#CC0000'> </span></font><font
size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial'><a
href="mailto:bartonknotts@unaids.org">bartonknotts@unaids.org</a></span></font><font
size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.0pt'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><br>
UNAIDS is an innovative joint venture of the United Nations, bringing together
the efforts and resources of the UNAIDS Secretariat and ten UN system
organizations in the AIDS response. The Secretariat headquarters is in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Geneva</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Switzerland</st1:country-region></st1:place>—with
staff on the ground in more than 80 countries. The Cosponsors include UNHCR,
UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank.
Contributing to achieving global commitments to universal access to
comprehensive interventions for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support is
the number one priority for UNAIDS. Visit the UNAIDS Web site at <a
href="http://www.unaids.org/"><font color=black><span lang=EN-US
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>www.unaids.org</span></font></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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