Russia: New rules require health services to report HIV among foreign nationals

Medical organisations required to report foreign nationals’ HIV infections to the Ministry of the Interior

Translated with Deepl.com – Scroll down for original article in Russian.

Medical organisations will be required to provide the Ministry of the Interior and Rospotrebnadzor with information on infections among foreign nationals, including HIV, and cases of drug use, should such cases be identified whilst providing medical care. This was reported by the press office of the Russian Ministry of Health, according to ‘Interfax’.

The ministry has drawn up a draft order to this effect. The initiative is aimed at safeguarding the public health and epidemiological well-being of the Russian population and ensuring the accuracy of information regarding the medical assessments of foreign nationals, the ministry clarified.

The draft has been drawn up to implement the law requiring foreign nationals to undergo a medical examination within 30 days of entering Russia and annually thereafter. Foreign nationals themselves must pay for these examinations.

All medical certificates will be in electronic form and will be stored in the Unified State Healthcare Information System (EGISZ). Healthcare organisations will be required to transmit the information to the Ministry of the Interior and Rospotrebnadzor within 24 hours to prevent documents from circulating outside the system.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law in June establishing a standard timeframe for compulsory medical examinations for foreign nationals. According to the document, migrant workers and foreign nationals planning to stay in Russia for more than 90 days must undergo a medical examination within 30 days of entering the country.

The examination includes testing for drug use, dangerous infectious diseases and HIV. The costs of the medical examination are borne by the foreign nationals themselves or their employers, and it may only be carried out by authorised medical organisations.

Медорганизации обяжут сообщать в МВД о ВИЧ-инфекциях иностранцев

Медицинские организации должны будут передать в МВД и Роспотребнадзор сведения об инфекциях иностранцев, в том числе о ВИЧ-инфекции, и случаях употребления наркотиков, если такие будут выявлены во время оказания медицинской помощи. Об этом сообщилив пресс-службе Минздрава России, передает «Интерфакс».

Ведомство разработало соответствующий проект приказа. Инициатива направлена на сохранение санитарно-эпидемического благополучия населения России и обеспечение достоверности сведений о медзаключениях граждан других стран, уточнили в министерстве.

Проект разработан для реализации закона, обязующего иностранцев проходить медосмотр в течение 30 дней с моменте въезда в Россию и далее ежегодно. При этом оплачивать прохождение осмотра должны сами граждане других стран.

Все медицинские заключения будут в электронной форме, их разместят в Единой государственной информационной системе здравоохранения (ЕГИСЗ). В течение суток медорганизации должны будут передать информацию в МВД и Роспотребнадзор, чтобы избежать оборота документов вне системы.

Президент России Владимир Путин подписал закон, устанавливающий единый срок обязательного медицинского освидетельствования для иностранных граждан, в июне. Согласно документу, проходить медосмотр в течение 30 дней после въезда в страну должны трудовые мигранты и иностранцы, планирующие находиться в России более 90 дней.

Обследование включает проверку на употребление наркотических веществ, наличие опасных инфекционных заболеваний и ВИЧ. Расходы на медосвидетельствование возлагаются на самих иностранцев или их работодателей, а проводить его смогут только уполномоченные медицинские организации.

Russia: HIV-positive foreign national to be deported from the Amur Region

The court reached this decision on the grounds that the disease could pose a threat to public health

BLAGOVESHCHENSK,  A court in the Amur Region has ruled to deport an HIV-positive foreign national from Kazakhstan on the grounds that the disease could pose a threat to public health. The man will be deported despite being married to a Russian woman, according to the Blagoveshchensk City Court.

“The court has ruled that the deportation from Russia of an HIV-positive foreign national is lawful, despite his marriage to a Russian woman,” the statement reads.

It has been established that in September 2025, Rospotrebnadzor in the Amur Region ruled that it was undesirable for the Kazakhstani citizen to remain in Russia. The reason was a medical report confirming that he was HIV-positive. Under federal law, the presence of a foreign national with such a condition poses a threat to public health.

The man was informed of the decision in October 2025. By that time, he was already married to a Russian citizen. He disagreed with Rospotrebnadzor’s decision and filed a claim with the Blagoveshchensk City Court. In his statement, he argued that he was under medical supervision, undergoing treatment, posed no danger to others and was participating in a state programme for the voluntary resettlement of compatriots. The court did not accept the claimant’s arguments. The key issue was that the marriage was registered on 4 October 2025. This took place after Rospotrebnadzor’s decision, which was issued on 26 September 2025. The application for registration was submitted on 2 September, by which time the man was already aware of his diagnosis.

The court stated that the rule exempting HIV-positive foreign nationals with families in Russia from being deemed undesirable cannot be applied retrospectively. At the time the decision was made, the man was not married to a Russian citizen; therefore, there were grounds for his expulsion. The court also rejected the reference to participation in the state programme for the resettlement of compatriots. The programme’s rules state that a participant’s status is forfeited if they have not provided medical documents confirming the absence of infectious diseases posing a threat to others, or if a decision has been made declaring their presence in Russia undesirable.

The man disagreed with the decision of the Blagoveshchensk City Court and lodged an appeal. However, the Amur Regional Court upheld the decision of the court of first instance and dismissed the man’s appeal. The ruling has become final.

New analysis finds HIV travel restrictions are shifting from border bans to hidden migration barriers as global progress stalls

Research presented by the HIV Justice Network at AIDS 2026 reveals that HIV-related travel restrictions are no longer disappearing, but instead they are evolving. Updated global data show that 49 jurisdictions continue to impose HIV-related migration restrictions, with many now embedded in immigration systems rather than explicit entry bans, raising concerns that decades of progress may be stalling or even reversing.

Despite decades of advocacy and major victories in dismantling HIV-related travel restrictions, our latest analysis shows that discriminatory barriers continue to affect people living with HIV who wish to travel, work, study or settle abroad. Rather than relying on explicit HIV entry bans, many governments now embed HIV-related restrictions within broader immigration, labour and public administration systems, making them less visible, and often more difficult to challenge.

Our poster, Positive destinations or persistent barriers? Rethinking HIV-related travel restrictions, presented today at the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) in Rio de Janeiro, draws on three decades of data and lived-experience reports to examine how HIV-related migration restrictions have evolved and why progress has slowed.

The updated analysis identifies 33 countries maintaining partial HIV-related restrictions and a further 16 enforcing severe restrictions. While some countries have formally repealed HIV-specific entry bans, many continue to impose barriers through medical inadmissibility assessments, employment-related health screening, visa requirements, healthcare access rules and other administrative decision-making processes affecting long-term residence.

“The nature of HIV-related travel restrictions has fundamentally changed,” said lead author Sofía Várguez Villanueva. “Governments rarely claim these measures protect public health anymore. Instead, HIV has become embedded within broader systems of migration governance, making discrimination less obvious but often much harder to identify and challenge.”

Our analysis also traces the remarkable advocacy successes that led to the repeal of many HIV-related travel restrictions between 2008 and 2014. Coordinated community advocacy, political leadership and multilateral pressure helped persuade countries including China and the United States to remove their HIV entry bans. International AIDS Conferences also played an important role, most notably when the 1992 conference was moved from Boston to Amsterdam because of the US travel ban, demonstrating that discriminatory policies could carry significant political and economic consequences.

However, we conclude that this momentum has largely stalled. Recent developments – including expanded medical examination and registration requirements for many foreign nationals in the Russian Federation – illustrate how HIV-related restrictions are increasingly being reinforced through immigration systems rather than overt HIV-specific laws.

The research identifies several broader political trends driving this shift, including growing anti-migrant sentiment, increasing appeals to national sovereignty, weakening commitment to multilateral institutions, competing global health priorities following Ebola, Zika and COVID-19, and an increasing willingness by governments to ignore established public health evidence when designing border and migration policies.

The research draws on data from Positive Destinations, the HIV Justice Network’s information and advocacy platform on travelling and relocating with HIV. Building on more than three decades of monitoring, the platform tracks legal and policy developments affecting the mobility of people living with HIV and provides practical information on travel and migration worldwide.

Our findings suggest that future advocacy must move beyond rebutting outdated public health arguments and engage more directly with migration governance, administrative decision-making and broader debates about mobility, inclusion and belonging. They also highlight the continuing need for robust monitoring of HIV-related travel restrictions to ensure discriminatory policies do not simply disappear from view as they become embedded within wider immigration systems.

Download THPEF618 Positive destinations or persistence barriers? Rethinking HIV-related travel restrictions

South Africa: Documented migrants are also fleeing SA, unable to access care and treatment

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has raised concern about the growing number of documented foreigners fleeing South Africa, saying the “self- repatriation” process cannot always be described as voluntary.

The humanitarian organisation says many Malawians, Mozambicans and Zimbabweans with valid documentation have been left with little choice but to return to their home countries after facing intimidation, violence and threats linked to anti-illegal migrant sentiment in parts of South Africa.

“The narrative that the so-called ’self-repatriation’ process is always voluntary is questionable, as many fearful Malawians, Mozambicans and Zimbabweans insist that they are documented but have little choice other than to flee for their safety,” the humanitarian organisation said.

MSF has expressed concern about interruptions in health care among people living with HIV, TB, diabetes, hypertension and mental health conditions, as defaulting on treatment can have serious and, in some cases, life-threatening consequences.

The government established a Temporary Repatriation Processing Centre (TRPC) in Musina on July 1 after consolidating operations from several sites around the country. The interministerial committee on migration said they have seen a tremendous increase in the number of foreigners who have been deported or repatriated.

Its medical tent is located some distance from where people queue daily to board buses back to their home countries, making it difficult for health care workers to reach those in need of medical assistance.

MSF said while the system appears efficient, it warned that vulnerable people may be missed because they are reluctant to leave queues to seek medical care or because they move on before receiving assistance.

Further, the organisation said many migrants continue travelling through informal routes.

“More than 100,000 people fleeing or being displaced are the sort of numbers MSF sees in hot conflict areas, not relatively stable democracies such as South Africa,” said MSF emergency medical team member Caroline Masunda in Musina. “With so many displaced people, we call on governments in the region to step up collaborative efforts to ensure continuity of care for patients.”

MSF counsellors across the border in Beitbridge are concerned about the trauma their patients are experiencing.

*Nobuhle, who had been living in Soweto, Johannesburg, and working as a chef, was devastated to return home from work on July 17 to find her house had been burnt down. Her three children were away at the time.

“I lost my passport and permit, all my clothes and furniture, my children’s birth records and birth certificates. I have nothing with me. All I have is this small handbag. I do not even have a change of clothes,” she said.

Nobuhle said she has lost hope.

“I thought having a passport and permit would save me, but no, I was wrong. I wanted to kill myself. I have lost hope, and I do not know what I will do,” she said.

Passing through Musina, *Joseph, a 49-year-old Malawian from Pietermaritzburg who has been working as a tailor in South Africa since 1995, had to leave his antiretroviral (ARV) medication as he fled his home.

He said people came to his house telling him to go.
“I ran away and went to hide with my friends. Then I went to Durban. I [was] staying there at the bus station; it was raining, but we were outside. I left my [HIV] medication there in the house. I don’t worry about that or the clothes; if I am still alive, I can get it. I haven’t taken the medication in a few weeks. It is a relief; I got my medication from MSF,” he said.

*Freedom Moyo, a 46-year-old Zimbabwean, moved to South Africa in 2009, where he has been working as an electrician and plumber.

Treated at Beitbridge, he said he was forced to leave South Africa after his health deteriorated because he had been unable to access his ARV medication.

“I defaulted on my medication for three months because of the xenophobic attacks in South Africa. I could no longer access the clinic as I used to, and my condition worsened. Before all this, the nurses in South Africa would not take it lightly if we missed the day for collection of our ARVs. Now everything has changed; they no longer want us.”

He said he had to be admitted to hospital in Zimbabwe.

“When I arrived on the Zimbabwean side, I was admitted for four days because I had lost a lot of weight, my leg was swollen, and I was feeling very weak. I am happy because I received a one-month supply of ARVs and was referred to a local clinic in Gweru for continued treatment.”

MSF said their teams are also treating many patients who do not have access to their chronic hypertension medication.

The organisation noted that, left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to serious complications, including strokes, heart failure, blood clots and even death.

*Joyce, a Malawian from Boksburg North near Johannesburg, was also treated by the MSF team in Musina.

Joyce said her blood pressure reading was 214/95, and she was not going to the clinic, as she was afraid.

When she fled her home, Joyce travelled to Musina after sleeping outside for two days.

“We are seeing a trend in Musina of patients who have been unable to access life-saving HIV and TB treatment for months after being turned away from South African health care facilities because they are migrants, increasing their risk of treatment failure and, in some cases, developing drug resistance,” Masunda said.

MSF cited the example of *Munyaradzi, who was exposed to a toxic chemical while working in a Zimbabwean gold mine six years ago and still struggles with debilitating pain.

He had not had access to his chronic pain medication for seven weeks while he travelled from Dennilton, a rural town straddling the Limpopo-Mpumalanga border, to the repatriation centre.

“That chemical affected me in 2020, and I started taking tablets from that year until now. I know they don’t like us here in South Africa, so I got my mind to go back home, but the police caught me before I went. They took me to the police station. I told them about my situation, that I am taking tablets. They didn’t take me to a clinic until now,” he told MSF. “My body has got so much pain.”

HIV Justice Network at AIDS 2026: new research, practical tools and global advocacy for HIV justice

The HIV Justice Network (HJN) team will be participating in the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where we will showcase new research, launch an important new global resource, facilitate community dialogue, and connect with partners from around the world.

Throughout the conference, visit us in the Global Village to explore our work, meet the team, and discover practical tools supporting HIV justice.

Visit the HIV Justice Network booth

Global Village | Monday 27 – Thursday 30 July

Our interactive booth will feature:

  • the Global HIV Criminalisation Database
  • the HIV Justice Academy
  • Positive Destinations, our platform addressing HIV-related travel and migration restrictions
  • practical tools and resources to support advocacy, legal reform and community action against HIV criminalisation

Meet members of the HIV Justice Network team, learn about our latest projects, and discover how you can contribute to global efforts to end HIV criminalisation and HIV-related travel restrictions.

Whether you are an activist, researcher, lawyer, healthcare provider, policymaker or funder, we would love to meet you and discuss opportunities for collaboration.

Launching the Guidance on Good Practices in HIV Decriminalisation

Thursday 30 July | 10:45–11:45 | Global Village

One of the highlights of our week will be the official launch of the Guidance on Good Practices in HIV Decriminalisation, developed by HJN on behalf of HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE and the Global Partnership for Action to Eliminate All Forms of HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination, with support from UNAIDS.

This practical session will introduce advocacy resources, legal literacy tools and community-led strategies that can help challenge HIV criminalisation around the world.

Speakers include Edwin Bernard, Janet Butler McPhee, Isis Tapia, Svitlana Moroz, Sofía Várguez and Immaculate Owomugisha Bazare.

HJN represented in AIDS 2026 plenary

Thursday 30 July | Morning plenary

HIV Justice Network is also proud to see Immaculate Owomugisha Bazare, a member of our Supervisory Board and Executive Director of the Centre for Women Justice Uganda, featured in one of AIDS 2026’s flagship plenary sessions.

Immaculate will speak on “Justice, rights and HIV: Building resilient legal frameworks”, bringing her expertise as a lawyer, advocate and leader in advancing HIV justice and gender equality. Her participation highlights the growing recognition that ending HIV criminalisation and other punitive laws is essential to an effective, rights-based HIV response.

Breastfeeding is not a crime!

Wednesday 29 July | 16:30–18:00 | Global Village

HJN’s Alison Symington will lead an interactive workshop, in partnership with ICW Global, exploring criminalisation and other punitive responses to women living with HIV who breastfeed.

The workshop will bring together advocates, researchers and clinicians to contribute to a growing global consensus supporting rights-based, evidence-informed approaches grounded in bodily autonomy and informed choice.

Presenting new research

HJN team members will present four abstracts during AIDS 2026.

Oral presentation

Thursday 30 July | 16:30–17:30 | Room 203

Edwin Bernard
HIV criminalisation as structural violence: science, geopolitics and community-led pathways to justice

Drawing on new global data, this presentation argues that HIV criminalisation persists because of structural violence embedded within legal, political and funding systems. It explores how community-led advocacy is helping to close the gap between science and the law.

Poster presentations

Wednesday 29 July | 12:15–13:15

  • Sylvie Beaumont – From the doctor’s office to the jail cell: system reforms to protect care, confidentiality and prevention in the context of HIV criminalisation.
  • Edwin Bernard – Science, rights, and HIV on trial: is rising HIV criminalisation part of a global anti-science/anti-rights resurgence?

Thursday 30 July | 12:00–13:00

  • Sofía Várguez – Positive destinations or persistent barriers? Rethinking HIV-related travel restrictions.

Sofía’s poster has been selected for the Track F Featured Poster Walk, where invited presenters will give short presentations and discuss their work with conference delegates.

Follow us from Rio

We’ll be sharing highlights, photos, videos and key messages throughout the conference across our website and social media channels.

Whether you’re attending AIDS 2026 in person or following from elsewhere, we hope you’ll join us as we continue working towards a world where HIV criminalisation is consigned to history.

Zimbabwe: Virtual health platform helps to prevent treatment interruption among returning migrants

Digital tools help Zimbabwe’s HIV migrants stay in care

As droves of Zimbabweans return home from South Africa in a wave of deportations and anti-immigrant sentiment, health experts warn that disruptions to HIV treatment could leave many at risk unless returnees are quickly reconnected to care.

The South African government says more than 53,000 foreign nationals have been processed for deportation or repatriation as part of a crackdown on “irregular migration” following weeks of violent anti-immigration protests. Most of the returnees are from Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

According to Statistics South Africa, Zimbabweans constitute one of the country’s largest migrant communities, with an estimated one million living there.

“We know that displacement, whether planned or sudden, can disrupt treatment, resulting in missed medication, poor health outcomes and increased risk of opportunistic infections.”

Tatenda C. Makoni, executive director, ZNNP+

Research in South Africa’s Gauteng province, which carries the country’s largest HIV burden, found HIV prevalence among international migrants to be around 10 per cent.

For many migrants living with HIV, sudden displacement presents immediate risks. Medication may be left behind, treatment records lost, and patients may struggle to navigate health systems on their return.

“The disruption is not just about the medicines,” Efison Dhodho, research coordinator at Zimbabwe’s Biomedical Research and Training Institute, told SciDev.Net.

“Many returnees may have lost their treatment records, some fear accidental disclosure of their HIV status when they return to their communities, while others are dealing with the psychological stress of suddenly losing their livelihoods.”

Health authorities in Zimbabwe, which has one of Southern Africa’s largest HIV treatment programmes, say they are responding through a combination of digital health and patient-centred care models designed to prevent treatment interruptions among mobile populations.

Owen Mugurungi, director of the AIDS and TB unit in Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care, said the ministry was working with the Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP+) and others to make sure everyone who needs antiretroviral drugs can accesses them.

The Zimbabwe National AIDS Council (NAC) urged returning migrants with HIV to enrol immediately into Zimbabwe’s HIV treatment programme upon arrival.

“What I know, and what I want to encourage, is for people living with HIV who are returning, when they get to their respective homes, to go to the nearest health facility and be absorbed into the very robust HIV treatment programme which we have in Zimbabwe,” said NAC chief executive officer Bernard Madzima.

“We have capable health workers at every facility in the country, from clinic level up to the highest referral hospitals, so there should be no problem in terms of them being integrated into this system.”

‘Omalayitsha’ network

Madzima noted that many Zimbabweans working in South Africa had been accessing six-month supplies of antiretroviral medicines from Zimbabwe through an informal cross-border transporter network known as “omalayitsha”, allowing them to remain on treatment while living abroad.

However, he said more people are now returning permanently and need to be fully integrated into local HIV services.

Mental health challenges, stigma and the practical realities of displacement can all affect adherence to treatment, said Dhodho, who has worked on Zimbabwe’s HIV care strategies for migrant populations.

“If your life is suddenly disrupted and you’re forced to leave, your medicines may be left behind,” he explained.

“Even a short disruption in routine can affect adherence. HIV treatment works best when people maintain viral suppression, which protects both their own health and helps prevent onward transmission.”

Dhodho said the country had already developed approaches, including the omalayitsha model, which could help returning migrants reintegrate into care more effectively.

However, he added that omalayitsha depends on predictable travel patterns and stable living arrangements, both of which have been disrupted by the recent wave of deportations.

Telehealth solutions

To bridge that gap, ZNNP+ has expanded the use of Kutabila, a virtual health platform that links returning migrants with HIV treatment and care services.

“The recent increase in the number of Zimbabweans returning home from South Africa, coupled with reports of deportations and heightened anti-foreigner sentiment, raised concerns about the continuity of HIV treatment among people living with HIV,” said Tatenda C. Makoni, executive director of ZNNP+.

“We know that displacement, whether planned or sudden, can disrupt treatment, resulting in missed medication, poor health outcomes and increased risk of opportunistic infections.”

Through telephone-based counselling and referral services, trained counsellors assess callers’ treatment needs, direct them to the nearest health facility and provide adherence counselling and psychosocial support.

Between 1 June and 8 July, the platform received more than 300 calls from returning migrants, according to Makoni. He said most were seeking help on restarting treatment, replacing lost medical records, transferring HIV care from South Africa or accessing medicines after treatment interruptions.

Since its launch, Kutabila has handled more than 10,500 client interactions and successfully linked over 7,300 people living with HIV to treatment and care services, he added.

Empathy approach

Zimbabwe is also applying lessons from Uzwelo, meaning empathy, a person-centred approach developed after the COVID-19 pandemic to re-engage people who had interrupted HIV treatment.

Rather than focusing only on tracing people who miss clinic appointments, Uzwelo encourages healthcare workers to understand the individual circumstances that caused treatment interruption and develop care plans tailored to each patient’s situation.

According to Dhodho, who helped develop the approach, Uzwelo helped recover nearly a quarter of patients who had fallen out of care within just three months after being introduced in pilot districts.

“The health worker meets the client with empathy instead of judgement,” he explained.

“The question becomes, ‘How do we make treatment work for your circumstances?’ rather than ‘Why did you default?’”

Makoni believes such innovations offer lessons that extend beyond Zimbabwe.

“Migration is a regional issue, and ensuring continuity of HIV treatment requires regional solutions,” he said.

“Continuity of HIV treatment should not stop at national borders.”

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.

Philippines: New agreement seeks to remove healthcare barriers for overseas Filipino workers

The Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Migrant Workers signed a Memorandum of Understanding for better healthcare access for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families during the 2026 Migrant Workers’ Health Summit in Quezon City on Tuesday.

“This reflects our shared commitment to improve coordination, strengthen our service delivery, and ensure that the health and well-being of Filipino migrant workers remain a national priority,” Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said during the summit.

“Migration creates opportunities for millions of Filipinos, but it also presents unique health challenges, including occupational risks, communicable diseases, mental health concerns, and barriers to accessing health services,” Herbosa added.

Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said OFWs deserve support not only when they are earning and sending money, but more so when they need help.

Herbosa noted that the DOH’s telemedicine services were meant to support the mental health of migrant workers.

“So our psychiatrists from the National Center for Mental Health provide online psychosocial support,” said Herbosa.

The two-day summit provides free medical services for migrant workers, including screening for hypertension, diabetes, cancer, tuberculosis, and HIV, as well as nutrition assessments.

Filipino tourists heading to Oman no longer need to present a negative HIV medical certificate

Oman drops HIV test requirement for Filipino visa-free travelers after Manila’s diplomatic push

Filipino tourists heading to Oman under the country’s 14-day visa-free arrangement no longer need to present a negative HIV medical certificate before boarding their flights, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs announced Monday, closing a two-month diplomatic row that disrupted travel and drew widespread condemnation.

The Omani government’s decision to waive the requirement marks a significant turnaround from a policy that had quietly taken effect on 1 March 2026, with no formal public announcement from either Muscat or the carriers enforcing it at check-in counters. The rule first came to broad attention through traveler accounts shared on community pages serving Filipinos in Oman — accounts that The Global Filipino Magazine was among the first to report on in the weeks that followed.

The controversy deepened when Oman Air’s own website displayed the policy under a prominent homepage banner titled “New Travel Requirement for Philippine Nationals Traveling to Oman,” with a linked circular informing trade partners that a pre-arrival HIV test bearing a QR code from an accredited clinic was mandatory for all adult Filipino nationals, “regardless of their country of departure” — a scope that went beyond visa-free tourists to include Filipinos living and working across GCC countries.

That circular stood in tension with the position offered by the Omani Embassy in Manila when the DFA formally intervened on April 17. The embassy told Philippine officials that the HIV certificate requirement applied exclusively to tourists using the visa-free entry program — not to Filipinos holding valid Omani work visas. “The HIV certificate applies only to tourists availing of the visa-free entry to Oman, and not to those who were issued work visas,” the DFA said, relaying the embassy’s clarification.

At the time, the DFA said it had made “strong representations” with the Omani Embassy seeking the removal of the policy. “The Department of Foreign Affairs has made strong representations with the Oman Embassy in Manila for the removal of the negative HIV medical certificate requirement for all Filipino travellers to Oman,” the department said in a statement. It added that the embassy had confirmed the matter was being reviewed at the government level, with talks scheduled to deliberate on revisions.

The Philippines and Oman have maintained diplomatic ties since 1980, with labor mobility at the core of the relationship. An estimated 45,000 to over 50,000 Filipinos live and work in the Gulf state across sectors including healthcare, hospitality, engineering, and domestic work. Oman had only recently expanded bilateral goodwill by extending visa-free entry to Filipino nationals — a policy that made the HIV testing requirement, applied uniquely to Filipinos, all the more jarring to critics who viewed it as discriminatory.

The DFA expressed appreciation to Muscat for the policy reversal, describing it as a reflection of the strong ties between the two nations. Travelers have been advised to continue complying with all other entry requirements set by Omani authorities.

National Health Insurance Act could deny refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants HIV treatment

South Africa’s NHI Act Risks Fueling Anti-Immigrant Sentiment by Restricting HIV Treatment

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi defends the controversial Section 33, drawing criticism that the policy could deny life-saving care to asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.

As violent xenophobic protests demanding the mass expulsion of foreign nationals sweep across South Africa, a highly contentious legislative battle regarding the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act is threatening to compound the crisis. Public health advocates are sounding the alarm over specific clauses embedded within the sweeping healthcare reform that could legally strip refugees, asylum seekers, and undocumented migrants of access to life-saving HIV treatments.

The controversy places Health Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi at the center of a profound ethical and epidemiological dilemma. While the administration champions the NHI as the ultimate equalizer for South Africa’s deeply fractured healthcare system, the deliberate exclusion of vulnerable migrant populations risks triggering a devastating public health catastrophe. The resulting policy friction threatens to not only derail the nation’s world-leading antiretroviral program but also validate the very anti-immigrant rhetoric currently destabilizing the nation.

What Exactly Does Section 33 Entail?

The architectural core of the controversy lies within Section 33 of the NHI Act. The legislation mandates the effective abolition of private medical aids in their current form, relegating them to merely providing top-up coverage for services not subsidized by the state fund. The economic logic is clear: re-route the massive capital currently spent by the wealthy on private medical schemes (representing 15% of the population) into a centralized, universal pool to serve the remaining 85%.

However, the eligibility criteria for this universal pool are rigidly nationalistic. The state’s Health Patient Registration System (HPRS) is designed to integrate strictly with Department of Home Affairs databases. South African citizens, documented permanent residents, and formally recognized refugees will be integrated. Conversely, undocumented migrants and asylum seekers trapped in South Africa’s notoriously backlogged immigration system will be categorically excluded from comprehensive coverage.

Critics point to a damning Treasury letter from acting Director-General Ismail Momoniat, which warned that the legislation is aggressively “unfriendly” to asylum seekers, noting that “even children [are] not entitled to hospital care unless in an emergency.”

How Will This Affect Asylum Seekers and Refugees?

The immediate casualty of this legislative exclusion is infectious disease management, primarily HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. South Africa currently operates the largest antiretroviral therapy (ART) program in the world, a colossal effort requiring unbroken adherence to prevent viral mutation and community transmission.

If the NHI Act proceeds unaltered, undocumented migrants and pending asylum seekers who currently rely on state clinics for their daily ART regimens will be severed from the supply chain. Public health experts at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) warn that denying treatment based on citizenship status will inevitably lead to massive spikes in viral loads among migrant communities. This policy approach essentially weaponizes the healthcare system, transforming clinics into immigration checkpoints.

Minister Motsoaledi has publicly acknowledged this epidemiological paradox, admitting in interviews that denying infectious disease care to any demographic “works in reverse” regarding national health security. A virus does not recognize border control or passport stamps; unchecked transmission within migrant communities will inevitably spill over into the broader South African populace.

Why Is the Health Minister Standing Firm?

Despite the dire warnings regarding both the collapse of private medical aids and the exclusion of migrants, Dr. Motsoaledi remains unyielding on the foundational architecture of the NHI. In a recent broadcast interview, he declared that Section 33 will not be scrapped, even if it triggers the collapse of the fragile Government of National Unity (GNU).

“You can’t come and tell me ‘I support this universal coverage, but Section 33 must go.’ It’s like supporting a house, but the foundation must go. Don’t you know it’s going to collapse?” Motsoaledi stated. He maintains that preserving the private medical aid sector would perpetuate the apartheid-era inequalities that the NHI was explicitly designed to eradicate.

However, regarding the specific exclusion of migrants, the Minister has signaled a slight pragmatic retreat. He indicated a willingness to adapt regulatory frameworks to ensure that vital interventions—such as HIV treatment, maternal care, and emergency disease surveillance—remain accessible to all populations, regardless of documentation. Yet, without formal amendments to the Act itself, these assurances remain dangerously reliant on ministerial discretion rather than entrenched legal rights.

Are There Parallels in East Africa’s Universal Health Rollouts?

The tension between national healthcare funding and immigrant access is a challenge actively playing out across the continent. In Kenya, the ongoing transition from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) has sparked similar debates regarding the integration of East African Community (EAC) citizens and the massive refugee populations residing in Dadaab and Kakuma camps.

Unlike South Africa, Kenya’s public health framework heavily relies on international donor partnerships—specifically the UNHCR and global health NGOs—to parallel-fund migrant healthcare, preventing the state treasury from absorbing the entire fiscal burden. Similarly, the United Kingdom’s NHS imposes an immigration health surcharge on visa applicants, creating a financial gateway rather than an outright prohibition on care.

For Pretoria, the path forward is fraught with legal peril. As civil rights organizations prepare constitutional challenges against the NHI Act, the Constitutional Court will ultimately determine if the right to life and basic healthcare supersedes the boundaries of citizenship. Until then, millions of undocumented individuals remain trapped between violent vigilantes on the streets and a healthcare system preparing to close its doors.

Philippine: New plan aims to give HIV-positive Filipino workers abroad easier access to care

Filipino migrant workers living with HIV stand to gain clearer pathways to care and firmer protections under a policy framework that government and international partners began shaping at a roundtable in Manila this week.

The discussion took place on June 15, 2026, at the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Central Office. Convened by the DMW together with the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC), the gathering drew in other government bodies, civil society groups, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Their shared task was to map out how the state can better serve overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are coping with HIV while abroad.

At the heart of the talks were the persistent gaps in HIV programs that leave migrant workers without dependable support once they leave the country. The proposed framework is meant to address those weak points, giving affected workers more responsive treatment and a defined route to assistance at every stage of their time overseas. Participants laid out specific policy directions and recommendations geared toward letting workers seek help without shame or hesitation.

A recurring theme during the roundtable was accountability across agencies. Those present argued that without stronger coordination between the offices responsible for migrant welfare, workers living with HIV will continue to struggle to reach the services they are entitled to. The aim, stakeholders said, is to surround these workers with a community of care while safeguarding their rights and overall welfare.

The Philippine response to HIV and AIDS is anchored in Republic Act 11166, the law that reconstituted PNAC and tasked it with steering the country’s prevention and treatment efforts. The council operates as the central planning and policy body on HIV, drawing its membership from national agencies, civil society, and the community of people living with HIV.

For the DMW, the initiative fits within a broader push to ensure that policies serving OFWs account for their health and dignity, not only their employment. The framework discussed this week signals that workers managing a chronic condition far from home remain part of that mandate.