Obama to lift HIV travel ban

US President Barack Obama said today that a US travel ban against people infected with the HIV virus will be overturned early next year.

The order will be completed on Monday, Mr Obama said, finishing a process begun during the administration of former President George Bush.

The United States is one of about a dozen countries that bar entry to travellers based on their HIV status. The ban has been in place for more than 20 years. Mr Obama said it will be lifted just after the new year, after a waiting period of about 60 days.

“If we want to be a global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it,” Mr Obama said at the White House before signing a bill to extend the Ryan White HIV/Aids programme.

Begun in 1990, the programme provides medical care, medication and support services to about half a million Americans with HIV or Aids, mostly low-income people.