I would agree that certain regions and certain groups do have a higher incidence of HIV/Aids but I've also heard, perhaps because it's closer to me, of many outside of these groups being affected. I could in no way quote statistics as I haven't studied this subject.
I do know, however, that it's not that easy to move around the world these days (long term, that is) when you have HIV/Aids. Whenever we've moved countries with my husband's work, we've had to have an Aids test and it would, of course, be the same for everyone else in our position. Presumably, if we'd failed the test we wouldn't have been allowed to work in that country. Oddly enough, when we went to Syria we didn't have to have the test because we were over 50 years old. Why they think over 50s are excluded from having Aids I can't imagine unless they think we're over the hill and aren't sexually active any longer. But then Syria was a very strange country to live in
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Did you read
this in the NZ press? I was very surprised that NZ is taking these people in because their heath service is in crisis in some areas and also because of their own strict rulings on this matter.
I truly wouldn't like to guess whether your friend could apply for a waiver but, if it doesn't exclude him in the INZ list, then I'd say go for it or at least enquire about the possibility of having a waiver. They are the ones who make the decisions and who know what criteria they work to.