HIV: Employers demand fair workplace policies

KAMPALA.

The Federation of Ugandan Employers (FUE) has asked corporate companies not to discriminate against HIV positive employees.

Speaking at a dialogue organised by Kampala Pharmaceuticals Industries (KPI) in commemoration of World Aids Day last Thursday, Ms Rosemary Ssenabulya, the FUE executive director, asked employers not to create policies that discriminate against employees who are HIV positive.

“The law requires employers to carry out medical examination to establish the health status or fitness of the employees.

However, when someone is tested and found HIV positive, you are not supposed to discriminate against them,” she said.

According to Ms Ssenabulya, employers are not supposed to disclose the results but rather use them to plan for their employees in terms of insurance cover.

Dr Patrick Kaliika, a physician at Case Hospital, said the National HIV/Aids policy and Law should guide organisations as they draft their human resource manuals and should not discriminate against those with any chronic diseases.

Ms Ssenabulya said employers should encourage their employees to know their HIV/Aids status through testing.

HIV prevalence
With a national HIV/Aids prevalence of 7.3 per cent, Uganda is still grappling with stigma and discrimination, which have been blamed for a low turn-up of individuals seeking to know their status.

Ms Consolate Ademson, the head of human resources at KPI, asked her colleagues in other companies to ensure HIV positive workers are supported.

“We should have peer educators with in companies and counsellors to combat stigma against HIV/Aids patients and also encourage employees to know their status through testing,” said Ms Ademson.

Dialogue

The dialogue was organised under the theme: “HIV/Aids at the workplace: implications for employers and challenges for employees.”

As the country strives to ensure that those who need treatment are reached, Ms Ssenabulya said once in a while employers can bring testing services at the workplace to encourage employers to test.

“Some workers fear to go for testing because of stigma and fear to lose their jobs but it should be clear that testing is not aimed at getting rid of them”, she added.

According to Uganda Aids Commission, only 55 per cent of Ugandans have ever tested for HIV; some of the persons who are not yet tested are living with HIV and some of them should have been on treatment already.

Dr Kaliika said some African countries have adopted a self-testing kit to enable people know their status without going to a health facility.

According to the Ministry of Health, about 1.5million people are believed to be living with the virus and only about 890,000 are not on treatment.

Facts

HIV/Aids. National HIV/Aids prevalence is 7.3 per cent.
Status. Uganda is still grappling with stigma and discrimination, which have been blamed for a low turn-up of individuals seeking to know their status.