From what I can only imagine to be ignorance and stigma within the Australian dept of immigration, a regular visitor to Australia of more than 20 years (HIV+ every time) was suddenly denied entry to Australia because he was HIV positive.
It's the policy of Australia that nobody will be denied entry to the country simply because they are HIV+.
However the policy failed on this occasion, my assumption being that whoever made the mistake automatically assumed that when you have HIV then you're a constant drain on the health care system where you are. If so this was a completely wrong assumption as the person involved was completely healthy and took only one pill a day, which he always bought with him.
He has since been granted entry, with the dept admitting it's mistake. However the case highlights the continuing ignorance and stigma in the general community surrounding HIV.
It was during the medical check, which cost about AUD$800, that Eric began to face stigma because of his HIV status.
“Australian immigration authorities only say yes to this one place (to complete the medical check),” Eric said.
“He was looking down on me. Normal doctors (who are not HIV specialists) are not so positive.”
In December, the Medical Officer of the Commonwealth (MOC) concluded Eric should not be granted a tourist visa because he did “not satisfy” a section of the Migrant Regulations and his “disease or condition (HIV)… would be likely to require health care or community services”.
“Provision of these health care and/or community services would be likely to result in a significant cost to the Australian community in the areas of health care and/or community services,” the MOC said in their findings.
Eric told Star Observer he takes one medical pill daily for his HIV treatment and brings enough with him for his entire visit to Australia.
“Even though I have HIV, I am a healthy person,” he said.
In 22 years he has only once needed unexpected medical treatment after contracting a stomach bug in Laos, where he received an IV drip for a few hours at St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst, Sydney.
The 60-year-old was outraged by the MOC’s findings and wrote to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) contesting the assessment. He was eventually awarded the tourist visa on January 4 this year.
“I had a doctor in Sydney assess my health and she said for someone with HIV my health couldn’t be any better,” Eric said.
“I don’t understand how you can’t standardise someone who has HIV but can with something like rheumatoid arthritis, they can be basically healthy and that person is totally different to someone crippled in a wheelchair.
“Isn’t this a singling out if it’s HIV?”
Eric said he expected a country like a Australia to be more progressive towards HIV and he felt he had been discriminated against.
“Someone’s saying: ‘you’ve got HIV, we don’t want you here’,” he said.
“It was a real blow.”
However, the DIBP told Star Observer it “does not deny tourist visas because of an applicant’s HIV status“.
A spokesperson from the department admitted it had made an error while processing Eric’s visa. Star Observer
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