The 22-year-old law was one of the most restrictive immigration policies in the world for people with HIV.

While signing the bill, Obama also announced the repeal of the travel ban, describing it as a "decision rooted in fear rather than fact."

"If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it," Obama said in a statement.

Obama said his administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel ban effective just after the New Year.

The ban, which experts termed discriminative, had also barred long-term foreign residents from obtaining resident status, purely on the basis of having HIV. HIV experts have in the past criticized it for encouraging people not to get tested out of fear.
Only a handful of other countries, such as Yemen and Qatar, have similar policies on barring entry to HIV-positive individuals.

Critical need

The world marked the Aids day, Tuesday, with the theme, 'human rights and access to treatment'. The UN chose the theme to act as a wake up call to those countries with restrictive rules on immigration policies on the basis of HIV status. Echoing the theme, UN Secretary General Ban Kid-Moon noted the theme was chosen to address the critical need to protect human rights and make HIV prevention, treatment, care and support accessible to all.

"Reduced access to essential HIV services and commodities were occurring in many countries as a result of laws and policies that were inconsistent with their commitments to human rights," he said in a statement. The UN chief has hailed Obama for being the first to lift the restrictive ban.

In Kenya, majority received the news with jubilation, noting that lifting the ban is a "step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment. The health ministry said in a statement that the move was a bold step that would keep families together as well as save lives. Hitherto, many Kenyans wishing to immigrate to countries such as USA, UK, Canada, Australia, UAE have been subjected to a series of medical examinations including a mandatory HIV testing and anyone who tested positive was denied the travel visa.

Entry bans have no justification on public health grounds. Their only real impact is to increase stigma and prevent ordinary people with HIV from getting on with their lives.