The Labour Ministry partnering with the National Tripartite Committee last week launched the ‘National HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy,’ as part of its drive to prevent the spread of the disease in the workplace and to stem the associated stigma and discrimination.

Held under the theme “Embracing the fight against HIV/AIDS in the workplace,” the launch at the Pegasus Hotel was attended by the Ministers of Labour and Health, the United States Ambassador to Guyana and several members of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), among others. A few objectives of the National HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy are: to manage and prevent HIV/AIDS in the world of work; to ensure universal infection control procedures; to promote information, education, communication and general awareness of the disease; and to protect persons infected with the disease from discrimination and unfair judgment at their places of work.

In his feature address, Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir noted that the establishment of the policy was funded by the Government of Guyana in partnership with the International Labour Organization and the United States Department of Labor. The minister noted that when he assumed his current portfolio, officers with the ministry were working assiduously to formulate the policy. He said that last year, the labour ministry conducted 3,025 workplace inspections countrywide. It found that there are currently 42 individual workplace policies at several entities across Guyana, all of which have been recognized by the Ministry of Labour. According to Nadir, the ministry is now gearing itself to work harder on the implementation of the policy and to ensure that the inputs made by its national and international partners do not go to waste. He declared that the policy would be dedicated to the contributions to Guyana made by Former President, the late Janet Jagan.

Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, told the gathering that the workplace programme is a system established to reduce the incidence of the pandemic  and national and international organizations are  working  together to stem the spread of the disease. Ramsammy also noted that in 2000, 7% of pregnant women tested positive for HIV at antenatal clinics across country. However, recently this figure has dropped to 1%. On another note, the minister said that the average life expectancy age was recorded as 57 years in the 1950s/1960s while at the end of 2008, this figure was calculated as 70 years.

GTUC President Gillian Burton said that the GTUC has been consistent in its advocacy of an HIV/AIDS workplace policy. She said it is hoped that the policy would not remain written paperwork; rather, she said it should effectively be implemented in the workplace and employers and employees should give meaningful participation in its implementation at their respective work environments.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador John Jones said that while the objectives of the policy are lofty, they are achievable.
He said persons living with the disease should be respected and accommodated in their respective workplaces and he also noted that the central idea of the policy is education; to make employers and employees aware of the dangers associated with the disease.