People living with HIV are discriminated against when seeking employment, study finds

They detailed that the study is based on surveys conducted by 13 national teams around the world, they interviewed more than 100,000 HIV-positive people. (SPECIAL)

Despite the progress made in the treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), people who suffer from it face discrimination when they seek employment, strive for to keep their job or to progress in their profession.

This was highlighted by the International Labor Organization and the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP +) at the presentation of the report Stigma and Discrimination Associated with HIV in the World of Work: Results of the stigma index

They specified that the study is based on surveys conducted by 13 national teams around the world, where more than 100,000 people living with HIV were interviewed.

They explained that a large proportion of people living with this disease are unemployed, with rates ranging from 7% in Uganda to 61% in Honduras and mentioned that 10 of the 13 countries studied had unemployment rate of 30%.

They warned that young people living with HIV have a much higher unemployment rate, from 11% in South Korea to 61% in Greece, with some countries reporting rates above 50%. • Timor Leste (50%), Fiji (56%) and Honduras (60%).

Women living with HIV are less likely to be employed than men in the same situation because of unpaid care responsibilities; and the unemployment of transsexuals remains high.

Another important finding is that many people continue to lose their jobs, in part or in full, because of their HIV status; The proportion of people who have worked and lost their jobs or sources of income because of discrimination by employers or colleagues varies from 13% of Fiji respondents to 100% in Timor Leste, they said.

They specified that the study is based on surveys conducted by 13 national teams around the world, where more than 100,000 HIV-positive people were interviewed. (SPECIAL)

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