AIDS Testing Is Required in More Countries

World Travel Watch is a monthly report designed to help you make informed judgments about travel throughout the world. Because conditions can change overnight, always make your own inquiries before you leave home. In the United States, contact the nearest passport agency office; abroad, check in with the nearest American Embassy.

Asia

--Japan: A law permitting immigration authorities to prohibit foreigners carrying the AIDS virus from entering the country went into effect Feb. 17.

The law allows officials to require AIDS tests for any traveler who fits an AIDS profile, loosely defined as those demonstrating homosexual or drug-related behavior. How authorities will determine who fits this profile remains vague.

Instructions from Japan’s Foreign Office state that this will be determined “from all information available at that time.” Travelers suspected of carrying the virus will be tested, and if found to be infected, a decision will be made regarding entry.

According to a Japanese consular official reading from the Foreign Office instructions, the testing physician will assess whether the person is likely to spread the disease in Japan, taking into account the person’s “social behavior patterns in the past, giving due consideration to his business career, age, purpose of entry and strength of infectivity.”

There is no clear signal yet about how actively this new law is being enforced.

--Nepal: Foreigners living here may now stay for a maximum of three months and then must spend one month outside the country before reentering with a new visa.

In exceptional circumstances a four-month stay can be arranged, but the visa holder will not be allowed to return for either six months or a year, depending on the stamp issued by immigration officials on departure.

Travelers using Katmandu as a base for trips to Tibet or India must be sure to request a multiple entry visa.

--North Korea: Closed to U.S. citizens for the last 40 years, North Korea has opened its borders to Americans and is actively seeking tours.

This development reflects an easing of tensions between North and South Korea and the North’s awareness of the value of opening up its economy.

--Tibet: All travel agencies in Tibet were recently placed under the control of a central Chinese government agency, which could mean that foreign tour operators will no longer be able to choose their local outfitters.

Africa

--Chad: Chad and Libya exchanged diplomats last October and agreed to settle their differences peacefully, but Chad’s disputed northern region is still militarized and portions of it are heavily mined.

Fighting between insurgents and government forces occurred recently in eastern border areas with Sudan. Travel to both of these areas is restricted. Check with the U.S. Embassy in N’Djamena for current conditions.

--Somalia: Avoid areas along the Ethiopian border and the northern regions of Bari, Sanag and Togdheer because of unsettled security conditions. Register with the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu on arrival.

Persian Gulf

--Oman: The Sultan of Oman has decreed that visitors shall not disturb sea turtles nesting on the beaches because Oman’s coastline is the endangered species’ most important Indian Ocean breeding ground.

Mediterranean

--Greece: Security has been tightened in Piraeus, Athens’ port city, in an effort to prevent a repeat of last year’s terrorist incident aboard a luxury cruise ship. Check-in time may be increased an hour by new procedures, so report to the pier as much as six hours before departure.

Eastern Europe

--Czechoslovakia: Visas are now available at four border checkpoints, three on the Austrian border and one on West Germany’s.

Visas cost about $30 and are good for 30 days, and can be obtained at Dolni Dvoriste, Hate, Petrzalka and Rozvadov.

South America

--Argentina: Buenos Aires is experiencing a power shortage that has been going on for months, producing nightly brownouts and shutdowns throughout the city. Few hotels have auxiliary generators and most have their power shut off for as much as six hours a day. Take a flashlight and extra batteries.

Caribbean/Central America

--Trinidad: The risk of yellow fever exists outside urban areas. A vaccination is not required for entry or onward travel at this time, but is advised. Yellow fever inoculations last 10 years.

Southeast Asia

--Burma: Another Burmese domestic aircraft crashed recently, the fourth since mid-1987, this time evidently the result of engine failure. Travel by land when possible, especially during the rainy season from May through September, when flying is riskier.

Political conditions have stabilized and the country is again open for tourism, but individual travel is not permitted. All travelers to Burma must make arrangements through Tourist Burma, the state tourist agency.

Health Note

--AIDS testing: Thirty-nine countries in addition to the United States have some kind of AIDS testing requirements for arriving foreigners, including students, those requesting work permits and tourists planning to stay longer than a specified time, usually not less than a month and often as long as three to six months. (In the case of Iraq, all foreigners must report to a doctor for an AIDS test within five days of arrival, and certification of an AIDS test in the United States is not valid.) If you plan a lengthy stay in a country, check with its consular or embassy officials for testing requirements before you go.