NATIONAL COMMISSION ON ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME

CHAIRMAN

June E. Osborn, M.D.

MEMBERS

Diane Ahrens

Scott Allen

Hon. Richard B. Cheney
Harlon L. Dalton, Esq.
Don C. Des Jarlais, Ph. D.
Hon. Edward J. Derwinski
Eunice Diaz, M.S.. M.P.H.
Donald S. Goldman, Esq.

Larry Kessler

Charles Konigsberg, M.D., M.P.H.

Belinda Mason
David E. Rogers, M.D.
; Hon. J. Roy Rowland, M.D.

Hon. Louis W. Sullivan, M.D.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Maureen Byrnes. M.P.A.

1730 K Street, N.W., Suite 815
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 254-5125 [FAX] 254-3060

February 15, 1991

Mr. Charles R. McCance
Director

Division of Quarantine

Center for Prevention Services
Centers for Disease Control
Mail Stop E03
Atlanta, Georgia 30333

Dear Mr. McCance:

On behalf of all the members of the National
Commission on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, we
want to commend the Administration for its recent
decision to designate "infectious tuberculosis" as the
only communicable disease of public health significance
for which an alien can be excluded from the United
States.

As you know, the National Commission on AIDS, a
panel appointed by the Congress and the President to
develop a national consensus on policy concerning AIDS,
conducted its own study in the fall of 1989 of U.S.
immigration policy as it relates to HIV disease. Based
on our study, the Commission called upon the Secretary
of Health and Human Services to conduct a comprehensive
review of immigration policies as they relate to
communicable diseases, particularly HIV disease. At
that time, we stated that policies which govern the
medical examination and exclusion of aliens based upon
communicable diseases should be determined by sound
public health policies alone. We also highlighted the
fact that the promise of global cooperation on
important matters of public health was being
jeopardized by existing U.S. immigration policy. It
was clear that such policy was counterproductive and
discriminatory.

We outlined these and many other concerns in the
study and in a resolution issued by the Commission on

December 12, 1989. Both documents are enclosed with

this letter.

Under the leadership of the Secretary of Health
and Human Services, the United States is now
terminating immigration policies based upon myth,
prejudice, and social stigmatization and returning to

 
public health officials the authority to make sound public health
decisions. The National Commission on AIDS supports the recent
decision to designate "infectious tuberculosis" as the only
communicable disease of a public health significance. We applaud
Secretary Sullivan for the action he has taken in this matter and
urge that the issue be resolved expeditiously.

Sincerely,
Pee = Wee ©. Catarn MD
David E. Rogers, M.D. Jyne E. Osborn, M.D.
Vice-Chairman Chairman

/enclosures