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  2. Bush Promises Reforms in HIV Policy

Bush Promises Reforms in HIV Policy

By j7uy5 on December 9, 2007.

Last year, on the occasion of href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_AIDS_Day">World
AIDS Day, President Bush promised to reform a discriminatory
policy that blocks most persons with HIV from entering the USA.
 



The current rule does allow for waivers, but the process is cumbersome
and unscientific.



Now, one week after this year's World AIDS Day, we learn that the
proposed new rule is worse than the one it would
replace.



As reported in href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/91059.php">Medical
News Today:


The proposed rule further discriminates
against visitors with HIV by denying them the possibility of extending
their visa or applying for residency. Furthermore, it does nothing to
address a fundamental flaw in U.S. policy barring people with HIV from
entering the United States.



"The proposed rule adds barriers to the already burdensome and
stigmatizing process for people living with HIV seeking to enter the
United States," Dr. Bardeguez added. "There is no public health
rationale for excluding people with HIV from this country.



Arlene Bardeguez, MD, MPH, is the Vice Chair of the href="http://www.hivma.org/">HIV Medicine Association.



It's hard to know what to say about this, except Bush is an evil
person.  Given the choice between dong something guided by
science, or doing something that might, possibly, be politically
advantageous, he chooses the political path.  Never mind that
it is such an obscure thing that the likelihood of any real political
advantage is vanishingly small.  


Tags
Bioethics
medicine

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I've lost count the number of times the Bush administration has announced a big projects with a great title, then promptly turned that title into an orwellian cover for bad policy.