Thanks to all of you who sent in comments urging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to end the HIV travel ban.Your voices were heard loud and clear.The count, as of last Thursday, was 18,997 comments in favor of ending the ban, the majority of which were generated by PHR and Human Rights Campaign. There were just 510 comments against ending the ban. 70 organizations around the world, from UNAIDS to Immigration Equality to Human Rights Watch to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, sent in organizational comments supportive of lifting the ban. And PHR and 316 other organizations also signed on to a group organizational letter supporting the right of people living with AIDS to enter the United States.Thanks for making PHR one of the most important voices in this debate.So, what happens next? The travel ban should finally be repealed, hopefully by the end of this year. According to procedure, HHS must read over the comments, and make any necessary adjustments to the proposed rule change. HHS then must send it to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for budgetary approval. After OMB passes the final regulation, HHS must once again enter the change into the federal registry for another review period (1-2 months), at which point it will automatically go into effect. While Congress could act to block the change during that time, that is highly unlikely.We'll keep you posted on the process. And thanks again — your action is making the US a better place for people living with AIDS.
