US president Barack Obama said last night that a US travel ban against people infected with the HIV virus will be overturned early next year.
The order will be completed on Monday and take effect in January, Mr Obama said, finishing a process begun during the administration of former president George Bush.
The United States is one of about a dozen countries that bar entry to travellers based on their HIV status. The ban has been in place for 22 years.
"We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the Aids pandemic, yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people with HIV from entering," Mr Obama said last night at the White House. "If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/Aids we need to act like it."
Mr Obama made the announcement as he signed the Ryan White HIV/Aids Treatment Extension Act of 2009, reauthorising a federal program that provides HIV-related health care.
Begun in 1990, the programme provides medical care, medication and support services to about half a million mostly low-income people with HIV or Aids.
Agencies