Disease screening among immigrants: Discrimination disguised as public health policy
Policies that deny visas to prospective immigrants on the basis of the disease are discriminatory basis to attract the publics fears and to protect public health, states an editorial in this weeks issue of The Lancet. Last week, the head of the British opposition party, Michael Howard, announced that his party would deny visas to prospective immigrants who test positive for tuberculosis (TB). HIV testing is also mandatory under the Conservative policy, but visas will not necessarily be accepted. The plan, says Howard, is a strategy to minimize threats to public health by immigrants.But these proposals have generated intense debate, mainly because of their similarity with the policies of the current government has unfortunately obscured a more important point: that the disease
should not be a cause of discrimination, says The Lancet.In Britain, the migration for a steady increase in HIV infections diagnosed has been blamed, but the absolute numbers remain small. The percentages, as mentioned in Howards promotional material, exaggerate the relative importance of immigration-related diseases. According to the report by the Health Protection Agency at the latest, the number of newly diagnosed HIV infections received outside the United Kingdom in 2003, the number 3000th In response to public concern over perceived threats, countries, including Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand, adopted strict guidelines for the mandatory testing of new entrants for tuberculosis and HIV.However, the only public inquiry in the United Kingdom the issue strongly
against the idea, concluding that there is no evidence to suggest that this policy is effective in protecting public health. Party Parliamentary Group on AIDS, which has established research, has expressed grave concern that the government was seeking ways to exclude the vulnerable, on the basis of ill health.The Lancet comments: policies that discriminate against visa applicants on the basis of the risk of stigmatizing Slimona pharmacy wholesale sell price ointment
Pages: [1] 2