Travel for a person living with HIV can be problematic and even dangerous in some countries. David Haerry, the founder of HIVtravel.org, speaks with Karl about how to navigate your travel.
The following is a transcript between David and Karl.
DAVID
I always feared my, my life when I went to the US.
KARL
Welcome to plus talk on plus life. We’re all about turning positive into A plus HIV and travel. Is it safe to carry your pills with you? What should you do? Are there places you shouldn’t go? There is a fantastic resource, a website called HIV travel.org. And it’s founder David Haerry is with me today. David, tell me all about this website.
DAVID
I started this in 1996 when the Swiss Foreign Ministry published a list of countries where people with HIV shouldn’t travel to or where they couldn’t stay for longer, where they couldn’t have a work permit. And I thought, I read this and I thought, wow, that’s nasty. I want to travel. People should know about this. So I started translating this. I put it online.
KARL
It’s an important resource. I use it myself. I’m someone who travels a lot and I’m always somewhat surprised when I see certain countries that you would think don’t have restrictions that do.
DAVID
Yes, that’s an issue. And well, the US was the nastiest one for many years until 2010. I, I always feared my, my life when I went to the US and I went there two, three times per year for, for 20 years with HIV. So yes, it’s, it is an issue and it remains an issue. This le the problem with legislation is once you have it in the books, it’s difficult to get out.
KARL
So you, you mentioned on the website, you’ve got a great page there that is specifically tips and advice for people who are traveling with HIV. Let’s just go through some of those really quickly because one that really stood out to me is don’t talk about your status. And in a way you kind of go, isn’t that a shame? Because we should be able to be who we are and live openly and honestly.
DAVID
Well, of course we should be open and, and and out and about, however, hmm, not everybody thinks the same. And when you’re traveling, you’re not protected in, in the US and in most Europe, you are protected by law from discrimination, from nasty stuff. In other counties, you are not and you’re not traveling with your lawyer. So better be careful. You want to travel, you want to be somewhere, spend some time somewhere. You might have an agenda. You might be under pressure, you might have to do business. You don’t want your plans to get interrupted, so you’re better shut up.
KARL
So, so give me some of the, what you think are the top five tips for somebody if they want to travel and they’re nervous. ’cause I get asked this a lot about, you know, is it okay for me to travel with my meds? Should I put them in a different container? You are the expert, you’ve got the website. What are the five key things you want people living with HIV to think about when they’re traveling?
DAVID
Well, number one, be prepared. Number two, know the situation, the legal situation. Don’t be nervous, be calm, be polite, be well dressed. You are dealing with immigration officials who are trained to find nervous people, to find insecure people to find stuff. So play normal and be ready to answer in case you are asked a question. If you’re nervous, get a prescription with you. I never have one because I’m not nervous. But it, it could happen, it could happen that when I still traveled with medication, that I could have gone into trouble because the US are nasty. They want to see a prescription for every prescription medication. Chile is nasty to other countries too. So you are better, you’re better prepared if with a prescription that should not mention your condition, it should just say Person X, Y, Z needs this and this medication for to treat the personal condition. Full stop. That’s enough.
KARL
And what about the suggestion of not carrying your medicine in the actual original prescription bottle? Putting it into a, say an unlabeled bottle. Is that a good idea or a bad idea? If you’ve got a letter from your doctor saying this is prescribed medicine,
DAVID
I would, I would do that only in a county with an entry bar or with short-term dis with, with short-term restrictions, perhaps we need to look at the figures. We have nine countries still with entry bars. You’re not supposed to go there at all. We have 13 countries with short-term restrictions, which means restrictions not allowing you to stay less than 90 days. We have 54 countries with long-term restrictions, which means long-term visa over 90 days can be denied. And we have 18 countries deporting people with HIV. That’s the legal situation. Now, I would probably repack my medication when I go to Russia. Still, it’s not very popular these days to go to Russia, but it might change with the other countries. I wouldn’t do that anymore with the us I constantly consequently did it back in the days when there was still an entry bar.
KARL
Countries, places like Dubai, Dohan, Qatar, they’re served by very exotic airlines that have become very, very popular for, for people all over the world because of their excellent service. So a lot of us fly through these Middle Eastern ports. Are we, should we still be concerned about transiting? Can we transit safely? Not worry about having to put it in hidden bottles and things?
DAVID
No, never worry about that. And that’s a question I’m often getting. I’m in transit X, Y, Z, usually Middle East, and should I worry? And I tell people, no, you don’t worry. You don’t go through immigration if you do transit. And even if you would, I mean a lot of questions are also asked, these countries have entry bars and they do deport, but they don’t care in practice about visitors, about people who, who stay short term. There is no forced HIV testing. They can’t check all the people. So you’re pretty safe. I’ve been there many times.
KARL
And I think bottom line is, you know, through the, the use of this great website, hiv travel.org, you want to encourage people to still get out there and travel and see the world because there’s no reason why we shouldn’t just because we have an HIV diagnosis.
DAVID
That’s, that’s correct. A, I want to support people who should be traveling. That was my initial motivation. But it’s actually also an advocacy tool because to remove restrictions, you need local lobbying. You need local groups that are willing, going through the pain, telling their government to get rid of this, of this legislation. And so the database informs them about the situation.
KARL
Thanks David. That is gonna do it for this episode of Plus Talk. If you want more information, check out the website hiv travel.org. And of course remember to follow us. We are at Plus Life Media on all social media platforms. And plus life media.com is the website. Till next time, travel safe. Be good. Bye-Bye.