Letter from Amsterd: AIDS is still a sign of stigma and discrimination

Eduardo Camín

Despite the advances in treatment that allows people to work and live together, people living with HIV still face discrimination when they seek work when they strive to advance in their careers, according to a new study presented by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP)

The report "Stigma and Discrimination badociated with In the world of work, is based on research conducted by 13 national teams around the world.More than 100,000 people who had the virus were interviewed.The study was presented at the International AIDS Conference 2018, a biennial event, which is the largest global meeting on global health and development in the world, taking place this year in Amsterdam, the capital of countries

– The report contains the latest data on HIV and discrimination in the workplace, and shows that:

– Many people living with HIV are unemployed, with rates ranging from 7% respondents in

– Young people living with HIV have a much higher unemployment rate of 11% in 1998.

– HIV-positive youth have a much higher unemployment rate of 11% in Korea 61% in Greece, with many countries reaching rates above 50%: East Timor (50%), Fiji (56%), Honduras (60%) and Greece (61%). [19659007] – HIV-positive women are less likely to be

– In all countries, the unemployment rate of HIV-positive transgender people remains high

– Women's lack of independent income is also high means that HIV-positive women do not have economic autonomy to the same extent as men.

Another important finding is that many people continue to lose their jobs in part or in full because they are HIV positive. The proportion of people who worked and lost their job or source of income because of discrimination by employers or co-workers ranged from 13% of Fiji to 100% in East Timor. There is also a high percentage in Belize (86%), Nicaragua (67), Greece (80) and Costa Rica (53%).

The study contains several recommendations and calls on governments and international agencies to increase efforts to defend human rights, inspiring ILO recommendations on HIV and AIDS. AIDS in the world of work (document published in 2010), facilitating access to full and productive employment and decent work for people living with the virus.

"Sadly, despite years of work, stigma and discrimination persist.The latest ILO report entitled" The impact of HIV and AIDS on the world: global estimates "showed that the treatment of AIDS allows workers to remain healthy and productive, but treatment alone is not enough. "We must intensify our efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination in the workplace against people. infected with the virus. They have the right to work and nobody should deny it, "said Olney Shauna.

Olney, head of the Gender, Equality and Diversity Unit of the ILO, who spoke at the presentation of the Study in Amsterdam, thanked "

" ILO Recommendation 200 provides a useful guide to all stakeholders for the promotion of human rights at work, in order to promote the promotion of human rights at work, and proposes measures to eliminate stigma and discrimination in the workplace, "concluded Shauna Olney. It is true that concepts change very quickly and AIDS is increasingly seen as a problem that can happen to anyone.

Hide the condition of HIV

According to the report, many people have been informed that information campaigns are conducted by a large number of institutions. are reluctant to reveal their HIV status to their employers and even to their colleagues. Should I say? The first question should not be whether or not I should say that I have AIDS, but who should I say it to. In general, people do not tell neighborhood comrades or even friends that we are tired of such a thing, let alone point the problem in detail. AIDS is such a despicable disease that people who suffer from it are still considered abject by a large part of society.

Likewise, HIV-related discrimination remains a major limitation to the promotion of employment. What the report shows is that there is still much to be done and that we must redouble our efforts to combat discrimination in the workplace against people living with the virus.

"Access to medical care and employment is It is impossible to achieve an objective as important as containing the epidemic and ensuring the well-being of people HIV-positive without the priority of putting an end to the stigma of the virus in the workplace, "he said. Sasha Volgina, director of the PNB program. "HIV-positive people have the right to work and nobody should deny it," said Olney, head of the ILO's Gender, Equality and Diversity Department.

Unfortunately, AIDS remains a social stigma

We must not forget that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 36.7 million people live in poverty and fear of the disease remains very large, which does not allow those affected to live in peace. HIV-infected people in the world by the end of 2016 and 20.9 million in the treatment of the virus by mid-2017. In addition, about 76% of pregnant women who are pregnant or badfeeding are on antiretroviral therapy. [19659007Lethèmen'estpasmoinsimportantilfaudraitmaintenantconsidérerqu'ilyauneprolongationdecevirusdébutantdesannées80aveclamaturitéduprésentUnematuritéatteinteaucoursdesannéesmaiscethommeétanttrèscontradictoireetlimitéparsesdoutespouvaitsurmonteraumoinsgagnerlabataillemaisjamaislaguerre

Eduardo Camín is a journalist, former director of the & # 39; weekly Siete Sober Siete member of the & # 39; Correspondents UN Press Association , Hebdolatino International Editor-in-Chief and Associate Analyst at the Latin American Center for Strategic Analysis (CLAE)
www.estrategia.la