China lifts travel restrictions on people with HIV, AIDS

A 20-year ban on people with HIV and AIDS entering China has been lifted just days before the opening of the Shanghai Expo, AP reported. The State Council said that the ban was implemented based on "limited knowledge" of HIV at the time and had proved inconvenient for the country when hosting international events. It noted that such restrictions had little effect on preventing the spread of diseases in China. The decision to revoke the ban follows the elimination in January of travel restrictions on HIV carriers in the US and South Korea. Amendments to the Border Quarantine Law and the Law on Control of the Entry and Exit of Aliens also scrap entry restrictions for people with other sexually transmitted diseases and leprosy. Entry restrictions remain on people with "serious" mental illnesses, infectious tuberculosis and "infectious diseases likely to cause significant harm to public health."