[Cyprus Times] Serious complaint "Student expelled from Cyprus because he has AIDS"

"Serious discrimination" the deportation of a student with HIV, says the AIDS Support Movement

Serious discrimination against a student living with HIV who comes from a country outside the European Union, denounces the AIDS Support Movement. The Movement, in a press release, calls for the immediate reversal of the recent decision to deport the person in question.

According to the press release, on 21 March, which, as stated, was also the International Day against Racism and Discrimination, the student in question was informed that the Department of Civil Registry and Immigration, in a letter dated 16.03.2022, decided to deport him, with the justification that "the mentioned foreigner suffers from a communicable disease and should leave the Republic".

It is added that this decision completely ignored the supporting letters from the Gregorian Clinic and the Movement, as well as the guidelines of the World Health Organization (2017), ECDC (2018), UNAIDS, "which clearly position that when a person living with HIV has an undetectable viral load, because of the effective medication they are receiving, they cannot transmit the virus, even through unprotected sexual intercourse."

It is stated that the student has access to medication from his country, "does not burden the state in any way in relation to his antiretroviral treatment or medical monitoring and does not pose a risk to public health."

It is also added that the student had contacted the Movement in December 2021, with the sole request to be allowed to complete his studies in Cyprus. On 21.12.2021, it is added, he underwent a voluntary test to measure his HIV viral load, conducted at the Gregory Clinic (Larnaca General Hospital), at his own expense, in order to confirm that the virus is "undetectable" in his blood, making him "non-contagious".

Following the student's written consent, the Movement said it sent the results of the test, along with a letter of confirmation from Dr. Ioannis Demetriades, Director of the Gregorios Clinic and Head of the HIV/AIDS Program of the Ministry of Health, as well as a letter of support from the Movement to An. (30.12.2021), requesting that he be allowed to complete his studies in Cyprus, "like any other student from a non-EU foreign country".

Referring to the decision to deport the student, the Movement "denounces this serious discrimination based on the HIV status of a person and calls for the immediate reversal of the decision by all competent bodies of the State that support human rights". The Movement communicated its statement, among others, to the Parliamentary Committees on Health and Human Rights, the Ministers of Health and Interior and the European Commissioners for Health, Stella Kyriakidou, and Equality, Elena Dali.

Source: CNA

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