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On 16 December 2011 presentation“The ILO Recommendation concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work (№200) in action in Russia” took place on the premises of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. The event was organized by the ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team and Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia in cooperation with the ILO tripartite constituents in the Russian Federation.
Representatives of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the RF, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia, the Confederation of Labour of Russia, Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service on Customers’ Rights Protection and Human Well-being Surveillance), sectoral employers and trade unions associations, health care expert community, members of tripartite commissions of the Kaluzhskaya and Lipetskaya regions, specialists from UNAIDS and UNESCO representative offices in Moscow took part in the event.
In her opening speech Shurenchimeg Zokhiolt, Deputy Director of the ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team and Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia drew attention to the fact that the Programme “HIV/AIDS and the World of Work” had been implemented in Russia for more than 10 years. During this time a number of projects have been carried out. As a result basic approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention at workplace have been developed and tested including HIV/AIDS policy for enterprises, training, education, and information materials. Issues concerning HIV/AIDS and the world of work are regularly considered by the Russian Tripartite Commission for the Regulation of Social and Labour Relations. Since 2005 HIV/AIDS related provisions have been included in the General Agreements between the national trade unions, federal associations of employers and the Government of the Russian Federation. Ms. Zokhiolt emphasized that “this progress has been possible due to active and committed work of the Expert group on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work”. She also paid attention to the fact that today there is an opportunity to disseminate this experience at the sectoral level in particular by including provisions on HIV in sectoral agreements: “We hope that it will be in line with the spirit and substance of the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work”.
Representatives of the ILO tripartite constituents included in their presentations the key issues concerning cooperation in the field of HIV/AIDS and plans for the future. Ms. Natalia Zharova, Director of Department for Wages, Occupational Health and Safety and Social Partnership of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the RF stated that “in order to promote the principles declared in the Recommendation concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, the parties of the Russian Tripartite Commission for the Regulation of Social and Labour Relations had signed Recommendation for practical activities of social partners in the Russian Federation to promote the ILO Recommendation concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work”. This document has already been sent to tripartite commissions of the RF constituent entities. The speech also focused on the importance of ensuring the right to labour for people living with HIV.
Ms. Marina Moskvina, Director for Labour Relations of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, pointed out that employers focused their attention on workers’ health, prevention of socially significant diseases and HIV/AIDS and the world of work. “The RUIE is planning to continue its work in a more targeted way including cooperation with sectoral employers’ associations in order to strengthen the importance of addressing HIV/AIDS and the world of work at enterprises and companies and to include it in prevention of socially-significant diseases and promotion of healthy lifestyle at workplace”.
Ms. Galina Kelekhsayeva, Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia mentioned lack of statistics regarding violation of the right to labour of workers living with HIV. “Prevention of HIV/AIDS in the world of work is not systematic yet. In order to change this situation and to attract the due attention to the problem the issue was considered at the last session of the Standing Commission for Social Protection of the General Council of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia. The participants of the meeting discussed the possibility to include HIV prevention in collective agreements and trainings for trade union staff in 2012.”
Dr. Larisa Demetieva, Representative of Rospotrebnadzor informed the participants about the specifics of the HIV epidemic in Russia. In her speech the following statistical indicators were mentioned: 662,744 people were infected with HIV in Russia as of 1 October 2011, and 102,742 deaths due to different reasons were registered among people living with HIV during this timeframe. Dr. Dementieva said that owing to serious preventative measures with participation of educational institutions the HIV-infection incidence among the group aged 15-20 had been reduced. At the same time the rise of incidence among the group aged 30-40 points out the necessity to intensify programmes at workplaces.
Ms. Elena Kudriavtseva, Focal Point for HIV/AIDS and the world of work for Eastern Europe and Central Asia dedicated her speech to the key principles of Recommendation concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work and their implementation at the national level.
Experiences of HIV-infection prevention among the active working population and incorporation of these issues in the activities of tripartite commissions for the regulation of social and labour relations in the Kaluzhskaya and Lipetskaya regions should be particularly mentioned. Representatives from Tripartite Commissions and Centres for prevention and response to AIDS from these regions presented their experiences in the speeches. Ms. Natalia Muzoleva, Engineer for staff training from the Angarsk Oil Refinery company, informed the participants about implementation of the programme for preventing viral hepatitis B and C and HIV/AIDS at the enterprise.
The presentation “Recommendation concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work in action in Russia” enabled the participants to discuss progress achieved in preventing the spread of HIV in the world of work and to decide on the future action.
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