Advice for Stranded Travellers

posted: 21/04/2010

Some people with HIV, stranded by the air travel chaos following the Icelandic volcano’s ash cloud, are running out of HIV medications. Here’s what to do.

It is very important to provide as much documentation as possible in order to limit the cost to you.

Stuck in the UK?
People with HIV stuck in the United Kingdom who are running out of HIV medication can approach HIV clinics in the UK for medication, but may be charged at the discretion of the clinic. Whether an individual is charged will depend on their country of residence.Find a clinic using NAM's database of services.

If you are from a country in the European Economic Area (European Union plus Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland) you will not be charged, if you produce your European Health Insurance card. If you cannot produce your card, you will be charged and issued with a receipt, and you can claim the cost when you return home. If you do not have this card, you can obtain one from your country's embassy in the United Kingdom, usually within 24 hours.

If you are stuck in the UK but from a country outside the EEA that has a reciprocal health agreement with the United Kingdom, you will not be charged if you can show your passport. Countries with reciprocal agreements 

If your stuck in the UK and your country of residence does NOT have a reciprocal health agreement with the UK, you will be charged.

Examples of help and BHIVA's advice

In London a number of National Health Service HIV clinics are issuing medication. At the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for example, individuals needing medication can obtain an appointment with an HIV doctor and will receive a prescription for two weeks’ worth of medication.

Policies may vary at other clinics, and British HIV Association chairman Dr Ian Williams is writing to all HIV doctors in the UK to ask them to be flexible if approached by patients who are not registered at their clinic.

In addition to the cost of drugs, some clinics may charge a fee for the consultation with a doctor.

Stuck outside the UK?
People with HIV from the UK who are stranded overseas can approach local HIV clinics or support organisations for help. You can search for organisations and clinics by country here.

What you pay will depend on the country where you are stuck. If you have the European Health Insurance card, you can use this throughout the European Economic Area to obtain whatever is freely available through the local health system. You will have to pay any local costs that would be normally met by local residents from their own pockets or health insurance, such as co-payments on medicines.

A similar situation applies for countries with reciprocal health agreements. You can check the list and find out what is freely available here  and find general advice for British citizens on health care abroad here.

Get an email/fax from your clinic

Your clinic in the UK should be able to provide a letter, by email or fax, to the foreign hospital detailing what treatment you are receiving and what drugs you need - in particular the correct dosages. Many HIV doctors may be away this week, attending the British HIV Association annual conference in Manchester. If you do not have contact details for other staff at your HIV clinic, you can find them here.

An NHS prescription is not valid overseas and you may need to obtain an appointment with a doctor in order to get a foreign prescription, but this will not be the case in all countries. In some countries it you can buy anti-retrovirals from a pharmacy without a prescription.

Source

USA HIV Travel Ban Goes

posted: 13/01/2010

On 4 January the USA travel ban on people living with HIV was finally ended. Notoriously the Dutchman Hans Paul Verhoff was refused entry into the U.S. in 1989 to speak at a HIV conference in San Francisco. Many people then boycotted the 6th International Conference on AIDS in San Francisco in 1990.

What began first as an administrative ban then became law in 1987 (through action by the homophobic republican Senator Jesse Helms) and this was reinforced in 1993.
 

The travel ban prevented visits to the USA by people with HIV apart from in exceptional circumstances. Officially people with HIV had to apply for a special permission. It was a difficult and slow process and many were refused. The stigmatising nature of the ban was reinforced because your passport was marked in a way which showed you have HIV.

The ban was widely ignored, but often people with HIV were detected by US immigration staff and then refused entry and deported. Others took risks with their health by interrupting their HIV treatment to enter without HIV being discovered.

Washington 2012 International AIDS Conference confirmed

Now the ban has been lifted the International AIDS Society has confirmed that the 2012 International AIDS Conference will be held in Washington DC. 3 in 100 living in the US capital have HIV, well above the threshold for a severe, generalised epidemic, which is 1%.

UK passport holders with HIV who wish to visit the US can now complete the green 'visa waiver' form that allows routine entry to the USA.

South Korea relaxes rules
The South Korean government has also announced that entry restrictions on people who don’t need a visa to enter were lifted from January 1st.

International HIV travel summary
A list of countries and their entry policies for people with HIV can be in NamLife here.

Travelling to Hospitals?

posted: 18/09/2009

Find out about public transport to hospitals in Greater Manchester with a new leaflet. It’s got information on choosing the right ticket for your journey, cheap tickets, checking bus times by mobile phone, where to get information on which buses will take you to hospital and advice on fares. Some people can get free travel or other help getting to hospitals. You can download the leaflet here

leaflet for your hospital

At this web page you can download leaflets for how to find your way to whichever hospital you need to go to in Greater Manchester 
 

You can also call the Traveline 0871 200 22 33 (10p per minute from a landline)

You can get all the hospital travel leaflets in large print or on tape by telephoning 0781 200 22 33 (call cost 10p per minute from landlines). Lines are open 7am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

How can you travel for less?
If you cannot use buses because you are disabled, you may be able to claim GMPTE Travel Vouchers to help with the costs of transport.
 

You may qualify for travel vouchers if you are a resident in Greater Manchester and:

• you are registered blind or
• you are in receipt of DLA (Disability Living Allowance Higher Rate Mobility Component), or
• you are in receipt of Higher Rate Attendance Allowance, or
• you are in receipt of the War Pensioners Mobility Supplement

For further information contact the GMPTE passes and permits department on 0161 244 1050.

For advice on the best way to travel to hospital and for timetables for the bus services please visit you local GMPTE Travelshop situated at all Bus Stations or phone the Traveline 0871 200 22 33 (10p per minute from a landline) or the travelline website . You can also order timetables and leaflets by calling the Traveline number - Traveline 0871 200 22 33 (10p per minute from a landline).
 

Patients on low income may be entitled to claim back travel costs. For details ask for Leaflet HC11 from your local post office, from the Department for Work and Pensions or ask at the hospital’s Cashiers’s Office.

USA HIV Travel Ban Consultation

posted: 27/07/2009

The notorious ban on people living with HIV from entering the USA is under official review. There is a  public consultation by the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Have your say - opposition to removing the HIV ban is loud

So far many comments are opposed to the removal of the ban, so if removing this ban is important to you please consider posting your support message. 

Official information on the proposals and email them your comments - click the Submit Comments link on that page (this starts a blank email) or email your comments direct

You may like to say something like the statement by Paul Thorn, the Brighton-based HIV treatments access campaigner, who should have spoken at the Pacific health summit in Seattle in June, but was refused entry to the USA after stating his HIV status on his visa-waiver application. This statement was read out to that conference and was the immediate cause of the policy review that is now underway:

"The US government gives people who have HIV one of two choices. The first is to actually be dishonest on the visa application or visa-waiver form, commit a felony by lying to US immigration, and become a criminal. The second choice is to be honest, and have a visa rejected because you are considered an undesirable person, and unfit to enter the US. To my mind either being a criminal or an undesirable isn't much of a choice. I don't want to be either."

He points out that the question asking whether he was HIV positive on the visa-waiver form was alongside questions asking if he was a terrorist or Nazi.

You might add that the USA is rightly acting as a global leader in fighting HIV but this HIV travel ban is incompatible with world leadership on HIV. The ban contradicts the international UNAIDS policy.

Our report on the conference.

There is information on the current USA HIV entry rules here.

USA Entry Made Easier with HIV

posted: 30/09/2008

US immigration officials on Monday announced moves to ease and speed up visa-processing for HIV-positive visitors to the United States, months after a 21-year entry ban on people with the virus was lifted.

Under the new rules, US consular offices overseas will have the authority to grant temporary, non-immigrant visas to HIV-positive applicants who meet "all of the other normal criteria for the granting of a US visa," the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.

Previously, people with HIV were banned from entering the United States unless they obtained a special waiver.

US consular officials will now have the authority to grant visas for short visits to otherwise eligible HIV-positive individuals without having to obtain a special “waiver.” But a visa must be obtained before travel to the US.

The new rule, called the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Waiver Final Rule was announced on September 29^th and can be read here. It applies to people with HIV who wish to visit the US for up to 30 days.

HIV-positive individuals who wish to make short visits to the US will need to apply to their local US consulate. A visa will be granted if they meet all the normal conditions for the granting of a US visa. A granted visa will not mention HIV.

But US consular officials will have to be satisfied that HIV-positive visa applicants will not engage in activities in the US that will pose a threat to public health.

Eligible HIV-positive individuals will now be able to obtain a visa to visit the US on the same day as they have an interview with a consular official.

Citizens of the UK and many other countries can make short visits to the US without obtaining a visa in advance from the US consulate. This option will not be available to HIV-positive individuals who, under the new rules must obtain a visa before travelling.

"We're also accelerating the process by providing an additional avenue for temporary admission while maintaining a high level of security at our borders," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement.

President George W. Bush signed legislation in July which removed HIV from a list of diseases "of public health significance" that effectively barred any person infected with the virus that causes AIDS from entering the United States.

The ban on HIV-positive foreigners entering the United States had been in place since 1987.