The government is today, on World Aids Day, accused of double standards for
permitting the deportation of people diagnosed in the UK with HIV to countries
where they may not get the drugs they need to stay alive.
The UK has strongly supported the G8 pledge to get treatment to all people who
need it in poor countries, and yet it is sending back people who have
discovered they have HIV and been put on drugs while in the UK, to places where
they have little hope of continuing their medication.
The African HIV Policy Network, which is attempting to change UK policy, has
many examples of people who are struggling to get hold of life-saving
medication. Its campaign is supported by Neil Gerrard, the Labour MP who chairs
the all-party parliamentary group on refugees and previously chaired the group
on Aids.
"I think when you have got someone who has been put on treatment here and then
they are removed back to a country where they can't get treatment, it is
virtually a death sentence," he said.
Britain has heavily backed the G8 call for universal access to Aids drugs, as
well as prevention and care, in the poorest countries of the world.
"We are doing some really good work and probably leading the field in terms of
promoting better care and treatment internationally," said Gerrard. "To have
that on the one hand and be sending somebody back knowing if they are not able
to get treatment they will die, is a horrible contradiction."
Two years ago, Sitiwe, who prefers not to give her full name, lived in the UK
and was on regular medication for HIV. She was able to go about her normal life
without worrying that her health might suddenly deteriorate.
Last year she was deported to her native Zimbabwe. Now she goes to the only
clinic that will supply her with the three-drug combination she needs and
sometimes leaves empty-handed. She shares tablets with friends who are in the
same predicament. If people with HIV do not take the tablets at the same time
every day, there is a high risk the virus will become resistant to the
medication and the drugs will no longer work.
"I tried to visit clinics but they couldn't take me on," she said from the home
she shares with her son and granddaughter. "Finally I found this one.
"They said they would give me some medication but sometimes they don't give me
all the combination. Sometimes I have to do without. It makes me very anxious.
It is really scary. You don't know whether you are going to make it."
Allegations that people with HIV are seeking asylum in the UK solely to get
medical treatment are false, says Gerrard. Figures from the Health Protection
Agency last week showed people are arriving at their GP's surgery when their
immune systems are compromised and they are at risk of dying.
It is not a long-term issue for the UK, said Gerrard. "If we are successful -
and there has been some really solid progress in getting drugs available in
sub-Saharan Africa - this is a short-term problem. We should reach a point
where removing somebody for immigration reasons doesn't mean you are sending
them to somewhere they will probably die."
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"
Groupe de communication Mulindwas
"avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"_______________________________________________
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