HIV-positive people no longer barred from foreign services

A rule that prevented HIV-positive people from becoming US diplomats has been removed.

The State Department has altered the list of medical conditions that would automatically stop HIV-positive people from becoming candidates for foreign service positions, reports the Associated Press.

Bebe Anderson, of New York-based group Lambda Legal which advocates for the civil rights of homosexuals, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV, welcomed the new move.

"The new guidelines mean that candidates for Foreign Service posts who have HIV will now be assessed on a case-by-case basis, as the law requires. At long last, the State Department is taking down its sign that read, 'People with HIV need not apply'."

However, spokesperson for the State Department Gonzalo Gallegos said that the change simply reflected "medical advances in the area of HIV care and maintenance".

According to a recent estimate by the Aids Healthcare Foundation over 33 million people live with HIV/Aids worldwide.

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