Sri Lanka is taking a firm commitment to ensuring recognition and job security of workers living with HIV/AIDS.
With 11.1% of the working population in the country dismissed for contracting the epidemic, the business community was this week asked to come to terms with the growing problem and face up to the crisis rather than ignore it. This was stated at the launch of the National Policy on HIV and AIDS in the World of Work in Sri Lanka held at the Taj Samudra in Colombo.
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| An AIDS victim covers his face while speaking at the event. Pic by M. A. Pushpakumara |
ILO East and South-East Asia and the Pacific Senior Specialist on HIV and AIDS Richard Howard said the ILO recommendation served as a guide at work which has had a large impact over the last 10 years.
He noted that people continue to lose their jobs due to HIV and AIDS and notably in Thailand people when applying for a job get screened or are fired once they are found to have this epidemic.
Mr. Howard said the situation in Sri Lanka was taking place at a rate of 11.1% when people are dismissed for contracting the disease. Other countries dismiss workers at a rate of 22.4% in China and 43.2% in Bangladesh.
The recommendations call for states to cover HIV and AIDS in their social security schemes, which is today being followed by many countries, he said.
Business establishments in Sri Lanka do not seem to be friendly towards the AIDS worker and Chevron Sri Lanka MD Kishu Gomes spotlighted how 30 renowned top business firms refused to even state their inability to employ one female excepting one.
He explained that if this issue is not addressed by the business community “it’s a matter of time before it becomes a crisis.”
In a bid to help treat the AIDS worker and ensure job security without discrimination the business leaders must take the lead to find the right solution, Mr. Gomes said.
Trade Union activist Leslie Devendra speaking at the launch said in 2007 22 trade unions in the country welcomed the move and supported the initiative of helping workers with HIV/AIDS.
In this respect, he said especially in the maritime sector, seamen and dock workers have been provided with an ongoing programme. Meanwhile, Deputy Director General of Controllable Diseases Dr. S. Sethinayaka delivering the Health Minister’s speech said about 3000 were recorded to have been infected by end of 2009.
Further, since 2000 Sri Lanka has not reported any cases of people being infected with HIV/AIDS through blood transfusions. The country’s epidemic statistics indicate that for every two persons treated for the disease five new individuals are identified as being infected.
Labour Minister Gamini Lokuge also called on business leaders to take actions within their establishments to mitigate discrimination of workers at the workplace.
| Arrested and deported – a victim speaks |
Working overseas can create problems for workers and this has resulted in Harold Singho* (not his real name), a field officer at Lanka Plus, an NGO promoting the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, being subjected to treatment as a common criminal at the hands of overseas authorities.
When Mr. Singho was identified with the epidemic he was working overseas for a company and was well respected and had a good working knowledge of the language as well.
He related that once this was detected authorities called at his office asked for his passport and then handcuffed him and took him away to be held up in a cell.
Mr. Singho was not provided any food or water and when asked to use the bathroom he had been humiliated as being an HIV victim.
At the time, he says he hardly had any knowledge of this epidemic and feared for his life.
Next day, Mr. Singho was told he will be deported back to Colombo and his handcuffs were removed once he aboarded the plane.
He believed that on landing he will be meted out with similar treatment but was surprised to note that he was given his passport back by a flight steward and could go home.
Back in Colombo he ran a couple of tests and when he tried to collect the reports was asked to check with the laboratory where the officer found it hard to say anything. Noticing this situation Mr. Singho then said he was consulting the doctor that evening and asked for the report to be sent to him which was accepted.
It was the Sri Lankan doctor who had allayed his fears during consultation and asked him to check in with the controllable diseases unit in the country.
But to this date he has not been able to tell this episode of his life to his family and even wonders whether they would understand what he is talking about. In the light of the circumstances he has also continued to reject any proposals for marriage.
*Although this individual was prepared to go public with his own name, the Business Times decided to keep his identity a secret for his own protection). |
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