October 30, 2009 U.S. lifting entry ban for those with HIV Play video

(NECN: Washington, D.C.) - President Barack Obama signed an extension of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS bill on Friday.

The measure provides care, treatment and support services for people dealing with the disease. The legislation currently helps nearly half a million people, most of whom are low-income.

The bill is named after Ryan White, an Indiana teenager who contracted the disease through a blood transfusion at age 13. He died in April 1990 at 18 after fighting AIDS-related discrimination. His mother, Jeanne White-Giner, attended the signing ceremony at the White House on Friday.

Along with the signing of this program's extension, the president said the United States would overturn a 20-year-old travel ban against people with HIV early next year. The order will be finalized Monday, Mr. Obama said, in completion of a process started during the Bush administration.

"If we want to be a global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it," President Obama said at the White House.

Mr. Obama said the original decision to institute the ban was one "rooted in fear."

Material from The Associated Press used in this report.