Soviets to Require Some Foreigners to Take Test for AIDS
The Soviet Union announced Monday that all foreigners who leave the country for more than a month must submit to an AIDS test on return.
In the latest move to control the spread of the fatal disease, Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady I. Gerasimov said a loosely enforced 1987 decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet had been tightened.
Gerasimov said as of May 1, all foreigners would have to take an test for acquired immune deficiency syndrome if they are out of the Soviet Union for more than a month and upon returning plan to stay more than three months.
Exceptions will be made only for foreigners who have foreign documents proving they have been tested within the previous month, he said. Anyone testing positive must leave or face expulsion.
The 1987 decree ordered AIDS testing for all citizens and foreigners. It was modified in January to allow those visiting for more than three months to avoid a test by showing proof they were free of AIDS.
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