Sorry if I was a little over zealous but I have a gay friend who recently was offered a fantastic job in Auckland but was denied a visa on the grounds of him being HIV+. His Cd4 count and viral load levels are neglible and the virus is barely detectable in his system but yet he is deemed to be too costly for the NZ health system.
Are there no exceptions at all at the discretion of the medical assessor? i.e. if his ARV treatment doesn't exceed $25000? The information I have read seems to be slightly confusing.
The Health requirements leaflet states that:
'Medical waivers can only be considered if all other requirements for approval of your application have been met. However, medical waivers cannot be granted to people where they:
? require dialysis treatment, or a consultant physician has indicated that they will require such treatment in the immediate future; or
? have active tuberculosis (TB); or
? have a mental disorder or intellectual disability that has needed care in a hospital or supervised residence for more than 90 days in the last two years; or
? have a physical incapacity that requires full-time care.'
HIV is not mentioned in this list thus suggesting that a medical waiver might be granted in some circumstances? Does my friend have a case to appeal or seek a medical waiver or does Appendix 10 supercede this discretion?
BTW you will find that the chances of a white heterosexual being HIV+ are 100's of times lower than those of a gay man or person of African origin so whilst I accept that technically HIV is an indiscriminatory virus in reality it is almost exclusively confined to certain high risk groups. Would you not agree?
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