4 September 2002

AIDS Foundation Supportive Of Immigration Review

New Zealand AIDS Foundation Executive Director Kevin Hague today expressed support for the Government’s intention to review how health issues are dealt with in an immigration context.

“The way in which health issues have been dealt with has been inconsistent and sometimes illogical. The review is overdue, and the AIDS Foundation welcomes it.”

Mr. Hague warned, however, that it was critical that the review takes into account three essential elements:

- ‘One size fits all’ doesn’t work. The different categories of refugees and prospective migrants need to be considered in different ways. In particular, humanitarian, family, and other categories would need separate consideration, as the whole basis for each category is different.

- Where a person has a health condition that may incur significant cost to New Zealand’s health services, a sound protocol will be needed for assessing these costs and weighing them against the benefits that the person might bring to New Zealand.

- HIV infection should not be dealt with any differently from other serious health conditions.

“We recognise that there is likely to be more HIV testing in country of source, but are not opposed to this provided that HIV is not dealt with differently to other health conditions, that HIV infection does not lead to irrational exclusion, and that the system is sufficiently sophisticated to take account of different situations in different ways.”

“We look forward to working with officials on this review.”

For further information contact Kevin Hague on:

Office: 09-303-3124

© Scoop Media