HIV/AIDS workplace programmes in Ukraine

The HIV pandemic has become one of the most critical workplace issues of our time. In addition to its devastating impact on working women and men and their families and dependents, HIV affects the world of work in many ways. Stigma and discrimination against people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS threatens fundamental rights at work, undermining opportunities for people to obtain decent work and sustainable employment.

According to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, more than 241,000 new cases of HIV infection were registered in Ukraine by November 2013. Recognising HIV/AIDS as a workplace issue, the ILO is piloting an effective approach to prevent HIV through targeted workplace programmes and to establish new partnerships between trade unions, enterprises and regional health centres. This new approach builds on the ILO’s strength which lies in its access to the workplace through trade unions and employers’ organizations.

As a result of ILO support and the active involvement and commitment of partners at the regional level, the Cherkassy region has become a pioneer in setting up a network of enterprises that adopted HIV prevention programmes. In total, 13 enterprises and institutions launched HIV/AIDS workplace programmes and four enterprises adopted a Code of Conduct on HIV and AIDS. Over 5,000 employees, 1,300 students and 1,200 patients received information materials developed by the ILO. The number of employees to be covered has reached 10,000, nearly half of them were women.

The second stage of the programme promoted the VCT@WORK initiative to encourage voluntary counselling and testing. The VCT@Work is part of the ILO’s efforts to enable workers to know their HIV status and seek treatment, if necessary. Another ILO campaign on HIV and AIDS is the “Getting to Zero at Work” which aims at highlighting the contribution of the world of work in getting to Zero new HIV infections, Zero discrimination and Zero AIDS-related deaths. The campaign has been joined by over 200 leaders from around the world.