UK urged not to deport HIV patients

Charities have called on the UK government to review the deportation of people with HIV/Aids to countries that have little or no treatment for the virus.

According to the African HIV Policy Network (APHN) and the National AIDS Trust, the UK signed a pledge with the G8 to guarantee universal access to medicine for HIV/Aids patients by 2010.

But the government continues to deport people from the UK, interrupting patients' courses of treatment which can be life-threatening, they say.

Failed asylum seekers are also facing forced removals to dangerous situations, reported the Guardian.

It quoted a Court of Appeal decision to dismiss an argument that it was unsafe for people to return to the war torn Democratic Republic of Congo.

The article gave the testimonies of several women in the DRC who have become pregnant and contracted HIV/Aids after having been raped by militias.

Chief executive of the AHPN said: "Every day the AHPN receives accounts from people who fear that a knock at the door will result in them being deported to a country where they won't have the life-saving treatment and services they need."

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