Supporting community action on AIDS in developing countries Entry denied I will be sharing two examples that demonstrate the impact that mobilsation, strong leadership and meaningful collaboration can have on changing an issue.

International AIDS Conferences US Ban on entry of PLHIV in late 80’s San Francisco activism IAS reacted by moving 1992 conference to Amsterdam Since then IAS has not had a conference in a country that does not allow PLHIV to enter Principle is that an AIDS Conference without PLHIV is unethical US ban on entry of people living with HIV in late '80's spurred tremendous activism at the conference in San Francisco in 1990 - also the result of arrest of Dutchman around the same time for entering US. -IAS reacted to the law by moving 1992 conference to Amsterdam a year before -since then IAS has not had IAC in a country that does not allow people living with HIV to enter - principle has been that an AIDS conference without people living with HIV or AIDS is unethical

Progress… Canadian policy around required declaration of HIV status on visa application Mobilised local partners…policy was discriminatory and without public health justification IAS was prepared to move conference to Geneva in the planning for AIDS 2006 Toronto it emerged (in 2004) that new Canadian policy required declaration of HIV status on visa application forms for short term visas to travel to the conference -IAS worked with Canadian govt., Local Host and Canadian HIV AIDS Legal Network to change the policy, which was deemed to be discriminatory and without public health justification.  Policy changed in late 2004, otherwise IAS was prepared to move the conference to Geneva (where conference centre was reserved just in case)

"IAS will not hold its conferences in countries that restrict short term entry of PLHIV, and/or require prospective HIV-positive visitors to declare their HIV status on visa application forms or other documentation required for entry into the country." IAS strengthened its written policy in 2007 to reflect the AIDS 2006 Toronto experience: "IAS will not hold its conferences in countries that restrict short term entry of PLHIV, and/or require prospective HIV-positive visitors to declare their HIV status on visa application forms or other documentation required for entry into the country."

Global Fund Board Meeting 16th Board Meeting (Nov 2007) Concern by communities living with the diseases about entry requirements Landing card/Visa form Decision not to participate During preparations for the Global Fund’s 16th board meeting, which was held in November 2007 there was concern raised by the communities delegation about entry requirements into China. At the time questions related to health condition, including whether a person had HIV/AIDS on the landing card. There was initial agreement between the Global Fund and the Chinese Authorities, that board members attending the board meeting would not have to fill out the landing card, but on the 01 September 2007 the Chinese Authorities introduced a new visa application form, which had the same questions about health status that were on the landing card, now on the visa application form. The communities delegation, together with the other two civil society delegations decided not to participate in the global fund board meeting under the new visa application form. We had been in discussion with a number of civil society groups in China in the run up to this decision.

Requirements for participation a high level meeting in Beijing between the leadership of the fund and Chinese Authorities a timeline from the Chinese authorities as to how long the legislation will take to change a policy from the board that we would not hold meetings in countries with HIV related travel restrictions a public statement from the leadership of the fund in meetings and the establishment of a task team to address the issue of HIV related travel restrictions The global fund leadership had also started looking at possible other venues to host the board meeting, as they did not want to host the meeting without the civil society delegations. We were however committed to finding a way for the meeting to take place, since it was difficult to retract the visa application forms (within a short period of time), and without the required legislative change. The delegations came up with the following requirements for our participation in the meeting; a high level meeting in Beijing between the leadership of the fund and Chinese Authorities a timeline from the Chinese authorities as to how long the legislation will take to change a policy from the board that we would not hold meetings in countries with HIV related travel restrictions a public statement from the leadership of the fund in meetings and the establishment of a task team to address the issue of HIV related travel restrictions All the requirements were met, with the exception of the timeline? The Chinese Authorities have since removed the questions on the landing card, but sadly the questions are still on the visa application form, and we are still waiting for the legislation to be changed. There was a recent announcement that the ban on people with leprosy will be lifted, and we hope that the same will happen for PLHIV

Global Fund Decision Decision Point GF/B16/DP24 The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will not hold Board or Committee Meetings in countries that restrict short-term entry of people living with HIV/AIDS and/or require prospective HIV-positive visitors to declare their HIV status on visa application forms or other documentation required for entry into the country.

All the requirements were met, with the exception of the timeline All the requirements were met, with the exception of the timeline? The Chinese Authorities have since removed the questions on the landing card, but sadly the questions are still on the visa application form, and we are still waiting for the legislation to be changed. There was a recent announcement that the ban on people with leprosy will be lifted, and we hope that the same will happen for PLHIV 8