HIV Travel restrictions opposed by top CEOs

Armenia, Fiji, Namibia, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova are among the most recent nations to lift travel bans for HIV-positive individuals

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Chief executives from over 20 leading multinational corporations called upon 46 countries to lift travel restrictions on HIV-positive individuals. The business leaders issued a statement calling the restrictions both discriminatory and bad for business.

Though UNAIDS counts 46 countries, territories and areas that enforce restrictions, each has different policies. Some deny short-term stays like business trips, while others deny residency or longer term stays, such as study abroad, diplomatic and consular postings. Five countries, meanwhile, bar the entry of people with HIV for any length of stay, and twenty others deport individuals once their HIV infection is discovered, according to UNAIDS findings. 

The United Nations believes 34-million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and it claims 1.7 million died from the disease in 2011.

"In today's competitive landscape where global business travel is essential, we need to be able to send our talent and skills where they're needed," said Levi Strauss Chief Executive Chip Bergh on the occassion of 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C. "We call on countries with these restrictions to rescind them immediately."

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Unite, which, according to its website, connects "people and entrepreneurial ideas to ... change ... the way government, business and the social sector work together [to make] business ... a force for good," called the travel restrictions "blatant discrimination."

"Everyone should have a chance to travel freely," he said. "Treatment has allowed people with HIV to live fully productive lives, and these laws and policies are downright archaic. I urge governments around the world to repeal their bans and encourage business leaders to join me in taking a stand."

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