Actress Mariana Renata lends her voice in support of HIV testing at work

Mariana Renata has given voice to Yohana, a plantation worker who discovered she was HIV-positive after getting tested at work. With her manager’s support Yohana kept her job and is receiving treatment.

“Millions of people around the world do not know they are HIV positive”, says the actress. “Knowing your HIV status really helps. You can take treatment, protect your family and keep working”.

The VCT@WORK Initiative has led to nearly 5 million workers receiving information on voluntary counselling and testing. As a result, close to 3 million workers took the HIV test. Over 85,000 discovered they were HIV positive and were referred to receive treatment.

Mariana Renata is the latest artist to join a group of local and international advocates, including Sharon Stone, Olympian Greg Louganis, and actors Kavi Ladnier, Ratidzo Mambo and Junes Zahdi, in support of VCT@WORK and the ILO’s Getting to Zero at Work campaign.

“We’re very happy to enlist Mariana Renata’s support to the initiative,” says Shauna Olney, Chief of ILO’s Gender, Equality and Diversity and ILOAIDS. “This is a very positive story of how managers at workplaces can lead the VCT@WORK initiative and support their employees. It also shows how getting tested early enables workers to get treatment on time and lead healthy and productive lives.”