ILO calls for policies to uplift lives of HIV-positive workers
Fear of stigmatisation is one big reason why most people do not go for HIV testing
What you need to know:
- ILO programme officer urges employers to ensure no one in their organisation is stigmatised and denied what others enjoy just because of their HIV status
Dar es Salaam. People living with HIV/Aids in the workplace have to cope with stigma and denied promotion or further studies, a senior official with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said yesterday.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam on the occasion of World Aids Day, ILO Senior Programme Officer Anthony Rutabanzibwa appealed to employers in the country to develop and reinforce the HIV/Aids Policy to improve the quality of life of employees living with the virus.
“We at ILO still deal with cases, where some employers have secretly carried out HIV tests on their employees and later denied them a decent working environment,’’ he said.
During the event, a Tanzania Commission for Aids (Tacaids) representative, Dr Amir Hafidh, said that the stigma inflicted on the HIV positive employees—whether by the employers or the fellow employees—makes it difficult to break the vicious cycle of transmission of the virus among workers.
“Fear of stigmatisation is the reason people don’t go for testing. This also means people can’t be open about their status. It’s difficult to prevent new infections under such circumstances,’’ he told a group of employees of SGA Security Group company who gathered at the event.
Dr Hafidh alluded to the fact that the government has now embarked on the “Test-and-Treat’ approach in which people must be put on early treatment with anti-retroviral (ARV) medications regardless of their CD4 cell count. He noted:
“It is important now that people at workplaces come out confidently and test for HIV. If found positive, it makes it easy for one to live a quality life because from now ARVs will be provided at an early stage.”
The event, organised by the Association of Tanzania Employers (ATE), ILO and Swedish Workplace HIV/Aids Programme (SWHAP), involved the unveiling of an HIV and Health Policy by SGA Security Group Company.
The document, according to SGA Managing Director Erick Samabu, is expected to guide employees in matters of HIV prevention and leading healthy lifestyles. He noted:
“We (at SGA) had a case in the past, where one woman went public at a company meeting, revealing she conceived with a colleagues whom she couldn’t recall; it means there are interactions at this company that put worker’s health at risk.
“This policy is useful to protect health and increase productivity.’’
