Another former Peace Corps volunteer has stepped forward with claims that the federal program automatically separated her from the agency in 2001 after she was diagnosed with HIV. Previously, Jeremiah S. Johnson said after he was diagnosed as HIV-positive, the Peace Corps immediately ordered him to fly from his Ukraine post back to Washington, after which he received an automatic medical separation.
Like Johnson's case this year, Rebecca M. Coulborn said that within 48 hours of her HIV diagnosis in 2001, the corps flew her back from Burkina Faso to Washington, where she was automatically medically separated. "I was told that was Peace Corps policy," Coulborn said.
Neither volunteer said they wished to leave their overseas post or the volunteer program, and both said they remain healthy today.
Johnson said the decision violated federal anti-discrimination laws, and he has asked the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to help change the Peace Corps' policy.
"In the case of HIV, the Peace Corps Office of Medical Services has historically determined that the best testing, evaluation, and treatment for volunteers is available from specialists in the United States," said Amanda Beck, the corps' press director.
Generally, a volunteer is medically separated in the event he or she develops a condition that cannot be resolved within 45 days. Assessment and treatment of HIV would take longer.
However, the Peace Corps' policy could be changing, according to its letter to ACLU: "The Peace Corps is now committed to extending the individualized assessments in these types of cases to include whether a newly infected volunteer could be reasonably accommodated and either kept at post or sent to another post in lieu of medical separation," though "we cannot commit to a guarantee of reassignment."
05/16/08
UNITED STATES: Peace Corps Struggles with HIV Policy
Source: Washington Post:: Stephen Barr; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention