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ACLU/Peace Corps at odds over HIV policy after volunteer tests positive in Ukraine
Johnson, a 2005 graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, spent more than 16 months teaching English in a Ukrainian secondary school before he was sent home and terminated from the Peace Corps when an HIV test came back positive. "It was a major shock finding out that I was HIV positive, but I agreed to the HIV test because I felt it was the responsible thing to do since I had been dating," Johnson said. "However, it would have been nicer to have found out in more hospitable conditions." Johnson, who is openly gay, did not test positive for HIV at the time he enlisted in the Peace Corps. He said he thinks he contracted the virus during his 16-month service. The termination letter sent to Johnson from the Peace Corps said that he could no longer work in the Ukraine because the country's laws barred anyone with HIV from working in the country. The letter also said Johnson could not continue his service elsewhere because he was given an automatic medical termination by the Peace Corps due to his HIV.
ACLU/Peace Corps at odds over HIV policy after volunteer tests positive in Ukraine
ACLU/Peace Corps at odds over HIV policy
By Anna Haislip
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 04/22/2008 08:25:22 AM MDT
Jeremiah Johnson joined the Peace Corps because he wanted to help people, but was forced to quit after giving nearly a year and a half of service because he is HIV-positive.
Now, Johnson, 25, is working with the American Civil Liberties Union to get the Peace Corps to change its policy on how it treats volunteers with HIV.
"I only want the Peace Corps to change its policy so it is in accordance with federal anti-discriminatory laws," Johnson said. "And if it is in accordance with federal laws, at least clarify what their policy is so another volunteer wont have to experience the stress brought on by this."
Johnson, a 2005 graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, spent more than 16 months teaching English in a Ukrainian secondary school before he was sent home and terminated from the Peace Corps when an HIV test came back positive.
"It was a major shock finding out that I was HIV positive, but I agreed to the HIV test because I felt it was the responsible thing to do since I had been dating," Johnson said. "However, it would have been nicer to have found out in more hospitable conditions."
Johnson, who is openly gay, did not test positive for HIV at the time he enlisted in the Peace Corps. He said he thinks he contracted the virus during his 16-month service.
The termination letter sent to Johnson from the Peace Corps said that he could no longer work in the Ukraine because the country's laws barred anyone with HIV from working in the country. The letter also said Johnson could not continue his service elsewhere because he was given an automatic medical termination by the Peace Corps due to his HIV.
"This has just enabled us to see how they treat people with HIV," said Paul Cates, the director of public education for the AIDS Project at the ACLU.
On Monday, the ACLU sent a four-page letter to the Peace Corps on behalf of Johnson, demanding that the they stop barring people with HIV from serving as volunteers.
A Peace Corps official declined to comment on the incident until they are able to review the ACLU's letter.
In a written statement they said they cannot discuss medical or other privacy protected matters concerning volunteers.
Cates and the ACLU think it is illegal under the Rehabilitation Act for the Peace Corps to discriminate against Johnson because he has HIV. The letter cites a recent federal appeals court decision finding that it is illegal for the Foreign Service to bar people with HIV from serving.
In its defense, Foreign Service, which also sends workers around the globe, had argued that it was justified in barring people with HIV from service in order to protect the health of people with HIV who would be stationed in areas with limited access to medical treatment.
Johnson, on the other hand, said he doesn't understand why he couldn't finish out the last 10 months of his service when he is completely a-symptomatic.
"I personally don't require medical treatment, and without assessing that how can they kick me out?" Johnson asked. "The odds that in such an early stage of my HIV would reach to untreatable levels is low. It's just that the Peace Corps concerns were never expressed specifically."
Anna Haislip: 303-954-1638, or ahaislip@denverpost.com
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: April, 2008; Peace Corps Ukraine; Directory of Ukraine RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Ukraine RPCVs; HIV; AIDS
When this story was posted in April 2008, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
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