HIV/AIDS restrictions to be loosened

Beijing will loosen immigration restrictions on HIV/AIDS carriers, AFP reported. Immigration laws, which currently bar foreign carriers from entering the country will be changed, though the government has not announced when or how. The health ministry said it decided to change the rules based on a better knowledge of the way AIDS is transmitted. The old rules, it said, were enacted at a time when people were "unfamiliar" with how the disease spreads. The ministry did not say when the new rules would come into force nor did it say that HIV/AIDS carriers would have unrestricted entry into China under the new regulatory regime. The country has 650,000 people with HIV/AIDS, according to a UN estimate in January 2006. Government figures on the HIV/AIDS population in China will be released at the end of November, the health ministry said.