It would appear that the Peace Corps with its lofty goals of promoting understanding between countries discriminates against volunteers that are HIV positive but healthy.
The American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Jeremiah S. Johnson is suing the Peace Corps after Mr. Johnson was asked to leave the Peace Corps when the country director of the Ukraine discovered that he was HIV positive.
"Mr. Johnson, 25, who was HIV-negative when he joined the Peace Corps, had been teaching English to middle and high school students in Rozdilna, Ukraine, since December 2006. While in Kiev this past January for a Russian language program attended by other Peace Corps volunteers, Mr. Johnson received a midservice medical exam and consented to an HIV test. The results came back positive. He was given two days to shut down his work, pack up his belongings in Rozdilna and head back to Washington."
With all of work the Peace Corps does in dealing with HIV-AIDS around the world, it should know better than to discriminate against its own volunteers.
But, perhaps the Peace Corp is not doing enough in general as recipient countries want more skilled volunteers.
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