President Obama announces the lifting of the HIV ban
for travelling to America.

On 30 October 2009, President Obama announced the lifting of the ban of people with HIV from entering the USA unless they first obtained a visa that included the waiver of the ban.

The rule change was published in the Federal Register on 2nd November and came into effect on 4 January 2010.

President Obama said that the rule had been "rooted in fear rather than fact". He added:

"Now, we talk about reducing the stigma of this disease - yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat. [W]e are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people [with] HIV from entering our own country. If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it."

We very much welcome the lifting of this ban.

How does this affect your travel insurance requirements?

We cannot stress enough how important it remains for you to obtain travel insurance when travelling - particularly to the USA. As you probably know, medical expenses can be high and bills can mount up to extremely large sums.