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16 June, 2009
In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on, among other items, the progress made in Nigeria on Canadian CEP’s donor work, on the work of a new ILO instrument on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, and on PEPFAR, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
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Editor: Hans J Schwass, ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant
Progress in Nigeria
In the May issue of the e-bulletin, we gave a summary of programmes planned in 2009 in target countries. We will continue to inform you on the progress and report on implemented activities in selected countries.
In Nigeria, ICEM oil and gas workers’ affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN have continued their successful HIV/AIDS work, which started more than two years ago. The project has seen a tremendous boost in the uptake of voluntary and confidential counselling and testing in major worksites. The project is co-sponsored by the Humanity Fund of the ICEM’s Canadian affiliate Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union, the Nigerian affiliates themselves, and the ICEM’s HIV/AIDS project. Additional support was received from the Nigeria branch of the international NGO, SMARTWork of the US Academy for Educational Development.
More than 150 workers attended sensitisation meetings and advocacy for voluntary counselling and testing at Engine Lubricant Dealers in Lagos and at the KRPC Depot in Kaduna in April. The meetings were conducted by peer educators and counsellors trained in the ICEM project in Nigeria.
A major new activity was practical training exercises for peer educators and counsellors, an activity first conducted in May at the NNPC/PPMC Satellite Petroleum Product Depot in Ejigbo, Lagos State. Professional counsellors assisted eight unionists in counselling services and close to 300 people went for testing. The activity was carried out in close cooperation with the Nigeria Business Coalition against AIDS.
International Labour Conference Discusses New HIV/AIDS Instrument
Discussions have commenced at the 98th session of the International Labour Conference (ILC), the annual conference of the ILO, with a view to adopt a new instrument on HIV/AIDS and the world of work.
According to Sophia Kisting, Director of ILO/AIDS, the new instrument should help to establish a basis for an institutional tripartite presence within national AIDS authorities; better coordinate ILO action on HIV/AIDS in the world of work and combat discrimination; improve monitoring and reporting and strengthen the contribution of the workplace to universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support.
While the ILO Governing Body, in March 2007, put the item on the agenda of the ILC with a view to the adoption of an Autonomous Recommendation, workers’ delegates and some governments are strongly in favour of adopting a more binding instrument – a Convention.
Discussions in the HIV/AIDS Committee of the ILC take place on the basis of a report reflecting the views of the constituents. Based on these discussions and further consultations, a draft text will be prepared for consideration and final adoption at the 99th session of the ILC in June 2010.
PEPFAR Head Nominated
US President Barrack Obama’s choice of Eric Goosby as Global AIDS Coordinator for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was welcomed by a number of organisations. Goosby has more than 25 years of experience working on HIV/AIDS issues and served in leading positions during the Clinton administration.
The US AIDS Healthcare Foundation has, however, chided Obama that he proposed only US$6.6 billion in 2010, while just last year – as a US Senator from Illinois – he had voted for US$9.6 billion in annual funding for PEPFAR. The President’s Global Health Initiative foresees investments of US$63 billion cumulative over six years to 2014 of which 70 percent or US$44 billion are earmarked for PEPFAR.
(Source: Lab Law Weekly, 15 May, South African Broadcasting Corporation - Reuters, 28 April and White House Press Release, 5 May)
India: Sexuality Minorities Organising
Sexuality minorities in India are planning to mobilise themselves in a trade union to ask for fair wages for their work in HIV/AIDS awareness programmes that are funded by the government and various supporting agencies across the states.
A public meeting organised by the Karnataka Sexuality Minority Forum in Bangalore discussed the need for fair wages and benefits for peer educators in accordance with the labour laws of the country. A representative of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) urged them to organise a trade union for their cause. There is a big gap in wages between those in the top rungs of the HIV/AIDS programmes and volunteers who earn as little as INR 1,500 (about US$30).
(Source: The Hindu, 4 June)
Sex Workers in Pakistan on HIV Prevention
Although the recorded HIV prevalence in Pakistan is relatively low, health officials are concerned that a concentrated epidemic of the virus among injection drug users could carry over to commercial sex workers and other high risk groups in the country. To address the issue, the National AIDS Control Program and the United Nations Population Fund recently held a meeting, called the National Consultation on HIV and Sex Work, in an effort to improve HIV prevention efforts targeted at sex workers by consulting with workers in the field.
Sex workers at the meeting made various recommendations, including HIV testing, referrals, and increased efforts to decrease stigma. Pakistan’s Ministry of Health reports that female sex workers were at a high risk of HIV. A survey of 4,639 female sex workers found that less than 25% reported condom use. A female sex worker at the meeting said, "It is very hard for us to convince partners to put on a condom, but I feel that a female condom would put us in a position where we can protect ourselves against HIV and sexually transmitted infections."
She added that female condoms are not widely available. Legalizing sex work would make it easier for sex workers to protect their rights, another female sex worker at the conference said.
(Source: IRIN/PlusNews, 19 May, reprinted from www.kaisernetwork.org)
Women at Risk in the Caribbean
An increasing number of women living with HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean face stigma, discrimination, and gender-based violence that is linked to the spread of the disease. UNAIDS reports that women overall now account for half of the population living with HIV in the Caribbean, compared with 30% in 1999. Women, ages 15 to 24, account for 62% of the entire HIV-positive population in the Caribbean.
The Dominican Republic and Haiti, which make up the island of Hispaniola, have some of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the region, according to UNAIDS. Women account for 51% of the 60,000 HIV-positive people in the Dominican Republic, while they account for 60% of the 120,000 HIV-positive people in Haiti. Myrna Flores Chian – head of the gender rights program of Profamilia, a nongovernmental organization involved in reproductive rights efforts in the Dominican Republic – stated, "There are physiological factors that put women and girls at greater risk of infection in unprotected sexual relations."
She added that "the feminization of AIDS is due above all to social discrimination, gender inequality, and lack of empowerment for women." She went on to say that gender violence and women's inability to negotiate condom use with partners or other conditions are directly linked to the spread of HIV.
(Source: Inter Press Service, 11 May)
News from the Global Union Federations
The fortnightly HIV/AIDS update of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) of 15 April reports, among other items, on a new partnership project, designed to put HIV awareness on the seafaring agenda. The group – called the Global Partnership on HIV and Mobile Workers in the Maritime Sector – brings together representatives from eight organisations, including the United Nations, non-governmental organisations, unions, and employers (www.itfglobal.org).
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