Travelling with HIV outside of Australia
Travel is an important part of life for many. It is safe and easy to travel to many parts of the world with HIV, but there are some extra things to think about. Here are some tips for a smooth trip and to help make sure you don’t experience interruptions to your treatment.
Destinations with travel restrictions
Some countries have restrictions on travel for people living with HIV. It is more common for restrictions to be applied to visas for longer-term stays and permanent residency, but in some countries, there are HIV-related restrictions even for tourists and short-term stays. It is important to check what restrictions apply before you choose a travel destination.
Positive Destinations is a resource which provides up to date information about HIV travel restrictions worldwide. The website contains detailed information about HIV travel restrictions in individual countries and allows you to browse based on countries which have restrictions on entry, short-term stay, long-term stay, unclear restrictions or no restrictions at all.
Top destinations for short-term return stays among Australians, such as New Zealand, the UK, the USA and Japan have no HIV restrictions. Others, such as Indonesia, have unclear restrictions.
Travelling with medication and bag checks
It is important to have a good supply of your HIV treatment while you travel to avoid unplanned interruptions. You should travel with as much medication as you need for the entire trip, plus two weeks extra in case of unexpected delays.
Different countries may restrict the amount of medication that you can bring with you. They may also want proof that it is for your own use. You should check what restrictions apply in your country of destination. This proof, such as a copy of the prescription or a letter from your doctor, does not need to state that your medication is for HIV. You should also keep the medication in its original package and pack your medication and your proof in your hand luggage.
If you are running out of medication, it is better to continue to take it as prescribed and replace your supply, rather than take your medication less frequently. Positive Destinations includes information about treatment access in different countries if you have lost or need to replace your treatment. You may also reach out to a local community-based HIV organisation for help about where to access treatment.
Getting travel insurance
You can get travel insurance that appropriately covers issues related to HIV as a preexisting medical condition. While many travel risks are unrelated to HIV, declaring it as a pre-existing condition means that your policy covers medical bills for things that may be related like illness, injury or replacing lost antiretrovirals. If you are on effective treatment with an undetectable viral load often there may only be negligible or even no extra cost.
Pre-existing medical conditions are health issues you have before you buy travel insurance. Some insurers do not cover issues related to preexisting medical conditions. Others will cover certain conditions automatically or cover you only after you have disclosed your condition and/or completed a medical assessment.
Few insurers include HIV on the lists of the pre-existing conditions they cover automatically in product disclosure statements. This means that you will need to disclose HIV as a pre-existing condition to cover it. You may then need to complete a medical assessment. Common medical assessments for HIV will ask questions like:
- Have you started a new antiretroviral treatment in the last three months?
- What is your latest CD4 count?
- What is your latest viral load?
- Have you been advised to start antiretroviral treatment but chosen not to?
People who are stable on antiretroviral therapy, with an undetectable viral load and a CD4 count over 350, and without other health problems, can obtain travel insurance with no or little extra cost. It will be more expensive if this is not the case.
Bear in mind that products from insurers that specialise in covering all pre-existing medical conditions or automatically include HIV in their product disclosure statements may come at a higher premium. You can use product comparison or review websites to shop around.
If you choose insurance that doesn’t cover HIV as a pre-existing medical condition you may have difficulty claiming some medical expenses, even if they seem unrelated. Things like the cost to replace lost HIV treatments won’t be covered. However, it’s still important to take out insurance for other travel risks.