The Hindu : International : HIV tests proposed for immigrants

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 17, 2005

International

International

HIV tests proposed for immigrants

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON: The Conservative party in Britain has called for all would-be immigrants from non-European countries to be subjected to health checks for potentially infectious diseases such as HIV, AIDS and tuberculosis, saying it is important to maintain Britain's health standards. The demand came as immigration threatened to become a major issue at the coming general election with opinion polls indicating widespread support for tough anti-immigration measures including a cap on the number of people who should be allowed to enter Britain in a year. The Tory leader Michael Howard proposed on Tuesday that if his party won the coming general election, expected in May, it would insist that any non-E.U. citizen wishing to come to Britain for more than 12 months should present a clean bill of health while applying for a visa. Even those coming for shorter periods would be expected to undergo medical tests if they intended to work in public services. Those tested positive for TB would not be given a visa, while HIV positive cases would be decided on a case-to-case basis. "Nearly two-thirds of people with TB (in Britain) are born abroad,'' Mr Howard said suggesting that immigrants were carriers of the disease to Britain.

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