AIDS Action Council Welcomes Move to Lift HIV Travel and Immigration Bar - AIDS Action Council commends Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on today’s publication in the Federal Register of a proposed rule to remove HIV infection as grounds for denying entry to the United States by visitors and immigrants.  The draft rule also removes HIV testing from the scope of any required medical examinations for visa applicants and immigrants.  There is a 45-day public comment period on this proposal.

AIDS Action Statement on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day: Reason to Hope. Every nine and a half minutes someone in the United States is infected with HIV. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that approximately 56,300 individuals became infected with HIV in 2006 alone. There are over 1.1-million people living with the virus in the United States. It is a disease that impacts minority and poor communities disproportionately: African-Americans are seven times more likely to contract HIV, while the rate of infection among Hispanics is three-times that of whites. Amidst this tragic reality, the ongoing search for an HIV vaccine gives us reason to hope.