GENEVA (ILO News) – The International Labour Organization (ILO) today welcomed a declaration by Ministers of Health from the European Union (EU) on HIV/AIDS, saying it contains provisions that give greater recognition to the role of the workplace in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The "Bremen Declaration on Responsibility and Partnership - Together Against HIV/AIDS" was adopted by Ministers of Health from the European Union and 16 non-EU countries at a Conference organized by the German government in Bremen, Germany on 11-12 March.
The new Declaration commits signatories to consider new initiatives for fighting AIDS in the European context, including discrimination and the protection of rights, confidentiality and the reintegration in the labour market of HIV-positive workers on antiretroviral treatment.
In recognizing the role of the workplace in the fight against the pandemic, the Declaration invites governments, employers and workers to ensure non-discriminatory policies for people living with HIV and care and support for those affected.
The ILO's presentation to the Conference showed how its work is based on the Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work (Note 1). The value of the Code was also explicitly recognized in the Declaration.
"This blueprint for workplace action is internationally recognized and globally applicable – employers and trade unions in industrialized countries increasingly recognize the value of HIV/AIDS policies and use the ILO code as a point of reference", says Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO's Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, who attended the meeting.
"The ILO's approach is to mainstream HIV/AIDS in its Decent Work Country Programmes, at the same time as collaborating with fellow cosponsors of UNAIDS in implementation. Since 2002, the ILO and the German development agency GTZ have a partnership programme to support ILO constituents in Eastern Europe and Africa to implement workplace policies and programmes through capacity building, socio-economic research, exchange of good practices, and support of Public-Private Partnerships", she adds.
HIV/AIDS has cost more than 1 million jobs in the worst-hit countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America but is also a growing challenge for Europe despite its lower prevalence rates. According to UNAIDS, an estimated 270, 000 people in Europe were newly infected with HIV in 2006, bringing to 1.7 million the number of people living with HIV – a twentyfold increase in less than a decade.
For more information on the Bremen Conference, please click here.
Note 1 - The Code can be downloaded in more than 30 languages at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/trav/aids/publ/codelanguage.htm.
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