-----Original Message----- From: AF-AIDS - AF-AIDS [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 1999 11:43 AM To: AF-AIDS Subject: [467] ILO-UNAIDS Conference on HIV/AIDS in Namibia ************************************************************* 'AF-AIDS' is an independent forum provided by the Fondation du Present http://www.fdp.org ************************************************************* Two reports on the ILO & UNAIDS 3-day conference in Windhoek, Namibia, on the social and labour implications of HIV/AIDS ------------------------- 1. From AfricaOnline News: ILO to Address HIV/AIDS Situation in Africa The Media Institute of Southern Africa, October 11, 1999 Windhoek - The following document was released by Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA): Some 80 percent of people aged 20 to 49 in some African countries-or the majority of economically active adults-are living with HIV/AIDS, strongly indicating that the pandemic is "affecting and ultimately killing the most productive members of the labour force" in many African countries with increasing rapidity, the International Labour Office (ILO) said today. In a report to be presented to representatives of government, workers and employers from sub-Saharan African countries meeting here on the social and labour effects of HIV/AIDS, the ILO provided a global overview of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, showing that HIV/AIDS is increasingly threatening all sectors and levels in the world of work. "HIV/AIDS has now become the single most important obstacle to social and economic progress in many countries in Africa," the report said. "AIDS is no longer a health problem. It is a development problem with potentially ominous consequences." Added the report: "The true cost of this pandemic is almost incalculable and its repercussions in terms of deteriorating child survival, diminishing life expectancy rates, overburdened health care systems, the increasing number of orphans and substantial financial losses in the business world are enormous." Faced with mounting evidence on the extent of the threat of HIV/AIDS to economic and social progress in Africa, the ILO will seek to forge a new, comprehensive strategy aimed at providing a "social vaccine" for sub-Saharan Africa to slow transmission of HIV and protect and promote the well-being of those already affected by the disease. The meeting was organized in collaboration with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and stems from calls for urgent action by an Organization of African Unity (OAU) meeting held here recently. It will be the first such tripartite conference to gather such a wide range of representatives of governments, workers, employers from the region. "Much of the work in the ILO in the past focussed on rights and discrimination issues, and much has been done in terms of country or regional programs, legislation and rights in the workplace," said ILO Executive Director Mary Chinery-Hesse. "Clearly, more needs to be done. This is high on the priority list of our Director General, Juan Somavia. Therefore, we are stating categorically that the ILO will urgently pursue a wider, more comprehensive and effective strategy on HIV/AIDS in collaboration with governments, employers and workers." HIV/AIDS threat to the world of work: In past the two decades, nearly 50 million people have been infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS. As of the end of 1998, UNAIDS said over 33 million persons were living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Some 14 million people have died of AIDS, with some 2.5 million deaths recorded in 1998 alone. Of the global total, UNAIDS said 95 percent of all HIV-infected people live in the developing world. Globally, women comprised 43 percent of all people over 15 with HIV or AIDS. HIV infections occur at the rate of 11 every minute of every day. About two-thirds of the world's people with HIV/AIDS-or 22.5 million-live in sub-Saharan Africa. In Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, between 20 and 25 percent of all persons aged 15 to 49 are now infected with HIV or have AIDS, although in some areas infection rates are as high as 50 percent. UNAIDS says that in 1998, 90 percent of all newly diagnosed HIV infections occurred in Africa, despite the fact that the continent has only 10 percent of the world's population. Some 95 percent of all AIDS orphans in the world-children who have lost their mother or both parents before their 15th birthday-live in Africa. ILO and UNAIDS data indicate that AIDS has now become the number one cause of morbidity and mortality in Africa, surpassing malaria. An ILO study carried out on the labour force in Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia showed that 80 percent of persons infected in those countries are between the ages of 20 and 49. "In other words, AIDS is affecting and ultimately killing, the most productive labour within the formal sector. Many were experienced and skilled workers in both blue collar and white collar jobs." In Zambia, the report says, 96.8 percent of all AIDS-related deaths in 18 firms covered occurred among workers aged 15 to 40. Between 1984 and 1992, mortality had risen fivefold, with AIDS-related illness accounting for 56 percent of the deaths among general workers, 71 percent among lower level workers, 57 percent among middle level workers, and 62 percent among the top level managerial workers. "Employers naturally tend to worry about the backbone of their businesses-their employees-and the affect the pandemic could have on their businesses," the ILO study says. "HIV/AIDS makes the cost of doing business more expensive, while at the same time lowers worker productivity and decreases overall demand for goods and services." General impact on work: The ILO report says HIV/AIDS has wreaked havoc on both the formal and informal sectors, among women at work and in the home, the elderly and children. In the case of the formal sector, HIV/AIDS had lead to skyrocketing illness and death among employees at all levels, absences due to illness, the need to care for ill family members or attend funerals, increased costs for insurance, retraining and disability. "AIDS does not discriminate among the level of workers," the ILO report says. "It decimates management and the skilled labour force. Finding qualified top management and skilled line workers to replace those who die or can no longer work can be extremely difficult. Productivity suffers; it takes time to replace workers, particularly skilled or senior workers." In the case of employers, the report says, "many fear addressing AIDS in the workplace could be too costly, while others are concerned they don't know how best to approach the issue. Surveys reveal that few companies have established comprehensive prevention, care and support interventions in their workplace." AIDS has also had considerable impact on the informal sector, where many unsuccessful aspirants or retrenched workers surface alongside those who are without the adequate education and skills. Many workers living with HIV/AIDS and working in this sector either lose their means of livelihood or see their businesses collapse due to the inability to work. Even if they enter a period of remission or recovery, it is often difficult to resume work because personal resource have been depleted. Women are also seriously affected, both due to their greater vulnerability to transmission, as well as their lack of empowerment in the workplace as well as in their personal lives. Some women may lose the ability to care for their families, others who admit to being infected with HIV may be denied it. In some cases, women with HIV are beaten and ejected from their homes by husbands, even if the man infected them. The death of either spouse often leads to a decline in income or depletion of savings, but the death of the women invariably has serious consequences for children, as well as the elderly in the household. In the case of children, many find themselves orphaned at an early age, or forced to leave school to care for families where a mother has died. Children often find themselves thrust into the position of head of household by the deaths of both parents, and are unable to meet such demands. Many children surveyed have said failure to meet these needs would force them into delinquency, the streets or prostitution. Orphaned boys may turn to paramilitary activity for protection and subsistence. ILO Actions: A comprehensive strategy and platform of action for sub-Saharan Africa is one of the expected results of the Windhoek meeting. "It has been said many times before but needs to be said again that HIV/AIDS is probably the most serious humanitarian challenge of our time, especially here in Africa," Mrs. Chinery-Hesse said. "The world labour force is estimated at close to 3 billion workers. They are all vulnerable. But they can all serve as agents of change, an enormous work force which can be deployed in the cause of a healthier, safer and longer living society." The new ILO strategy is expected to focus on developing a program of action of prevention and protection that encompasses: statistics to document the problem and make it more visible and amenable for action; a multi-media information and education campaign and direct assistance to industry and communities to stimulate and support action at all levels; the promotion of a culture of fairness and ethics than can embrace the weak, vulnerable and diseases; and a legal and social security system that can provide some measure of legal and real protection to victims and society at large. "Clearly, we cannot afford to wait for the vaccine to prevent HIV/AIDS," Mrs. Chinery-Hesse said. "Let us contribute what we at the ILO are uniquely qualified to offer-such as tripartism, the search for equality and social justice-to this global struggle. These traditions and values can effectively function as a social vaccine against HIV/AIDS as we await a scientific or medical breakthrough." Information distributed by: Raashied Galant, MISA Researcher, Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Private Bag 13386, Windhoek, Namibia. Tel. +264 61 232975, Fax. 248016 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http ------------------------ 2. From UN wire, 12 Oct: The International Labor Organization (ILO) and the UN AIDS yesterday opened a three-day conference in Windhoek, Namibia, on the social and labor implications of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV/AIDS has overtaken malaria as the continent's biggest killer (Financial Times, 11 Oct). A joint statement from the ILO and UNAIDS said: "For every person who is infected with HIV or ill with AIDS, dozens more are affected as the virus enters their household, leaves them orphaned or strips them of their teachers, workers, managers and political leaders" (IRIN-Southern Africa, 11 Oct). The AIDS pandemic is also the main factor behind the economic slowdown in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a recent World Bank study. More than 22 million out of the 33 million worldwide who have the HIV virus live in sub-Saharan Africa (Catherine Rama, Agence France-Presse, 10 Oct). The ILO and UNAIDS statement noted that the disease tends to affect the most economically active segment of the population, wiping out investments made in training and resulting in a loss of skills and expertise. An ILO study on the labor forces in Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia showed that 80% of the people infected in these countries were between the ages of 20 and 49. In some African countries, it is estimated that up to 20% of gross domestic product could be lost to the disease over the next five years (IRIN). Other studies have shown that: Botswana is losing between 2% and 5% of its teachers to AIDS each year. In South Africa, 15% of civil servants are HIV-positive. In Namibia, Zambia and Swaziland, one adult in five is HIV-positive; in Zimbabwe and Botswana, the number is one in four. (Rama, Agence France-Presse). "In other words, AIDS is affecting and ultimately killing, the most productive labor within the formal sector," said the ILO and UNAIDS statement (IRIN). Namibian Health Minister Libertine Amathila said her country sees approximately 2,000 new HIV-positive cases each year. Amathila noted that her statistics were based mainly on the number of cases of infected pregnant women and that there were no mandatory HIV tests. Sounding a hopeful note, Amathila said that Namibians are seeing more information on the disease and more prevention programs in schools and companies. "We are hoping in the next five years, we'll see a difference, we'll see the decline in new cases," she said (Rama, Agence France-Presse). -------------------------------------------------------- - A posting from [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To submit a posting, send to this address - For anonymous postings, add the word "anon" to the subject line - To join or leave this forum, add the word join or leave to the subject line - Browse previous postings or post new messages at: http://www.hivnet.ch:8000/africa/af-aids/ - Reproduction welcomed, provided source and forum email address is quoted - AF-AIDS is provided and managed by the Fondation du Present (FD) - Financial support for the forum is from the European Union (EU) HIV/AIDS Programme in Developing Countries & FdP The views expressed in this forum do not necessarily reflect those of FdP or EU, unless otherwise stated --------------------------------------------------------
