Governments, trade unions, employers and NGOs join hands to fight HIV/AIDS in workplaces in Sri Lanka

According to the ILO an estimated 36.5 million people of working age have HIV and by next year the global labour force will have lost as many as 28 million workers due to AIDS since the start of the epidemic. In the absence of increased access to treatment, the number of workers lost due to HIV/AIDS is estimated to increase to 48 million by 2010 and 74 million by 2015, making HIV/AIDS one of the biggest causes of mortality in the world of work.

A recent analysis in 50 countries reveals that HIV/AIDS is expected to reduce the rate of growth in gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.2% annually and of GDP per capita by 0.1% due to loss of the “human capital” built up over years and weakening the capacity of workers and employers.

“HIV/AIDS is not only a human crisis, it is a threat to sustainable global, social and economic development”, says ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. “The loss of life and the debilitating effects of the illness will lead not only to reduced capacity to sustain production and employment, increase poverty and reduce development, but will also be a burden borne by all societies – rich and poor alike.”

In Sri Lanka, by end 2004, 614 HIV infections have been officially reported. However, the true situation may be more as there is underreporting due to high discrimination and social stigma. WHO and UNAIDS estimates that about 3500 people in Sri Lanka are living with HIV/AIDS. Most of the HIV infected persons were in the 30-39 age-group, which is the most productive segment of the population. Professionals, businessmen, hotel employees, drivers, teachers, artisans and service personnel are among those infected. Even though, Sri Lanka is classified as a low HIV prevalence country in South Asia region, Sri Lanka exhibits a number of high risk factors such as low condom use, a growing commercial sex industry, external & internal migration, tourism, beach boys, men who have sex with men and increasing numbers of people having unprotected sex with different partners.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Ministry of Labour Relations & Foreign Employment are launching a three-year project aimed at preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS among workers through workplace policies & programmes, capacity building, conducting awareness campaigns and reducing the level of employment-related discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop a sustainable national programme on HIV/AIDS and the world of work.

The project, International HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Programme is funded by the United States Department of Labour (USDOL) and will be executed by the ILO. The project will build alliance with the government, trade unions and employers’ organizations to reduce adverse consequences on social, labour and economic development through a coordinated strategy. The strategy will build upon the ILO’s comparative advantage in advocacy and policy development, particularly drawing on its Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work.

The world of work presents itself as an ideal place where concrete measures towards attitudinal changes, value transformation and disseminating information relating to HIV/AIDS can be successfully undertaken.

ILO Office in Colombo
8th July 2005