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12 December, 2010
In this issue of ICEM’s HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the HIV/AIDS Workshop in Trinidad & Tobago, on the 1 December World AIDS Day statements, as well as on the 2010 UNAIDS report.
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OWTU: Make HIV/AIDS Workplace Policies a Priority!
The President General of the Trinidad/Tobago’s Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), Ancel Roget, called on all companies, state or privately owned, to negotiate with unions and jointly adopt and implement HIV/AIDS workplace policies when he spoke at the opening of the OWTU/CEP/ICEM HIV/AIDS workshop in San Fernando, Trinidad & Tobago, on World AIDS Day, 1 December.
OWTU can argue from a point of strength as it adopted its own workplace policy on HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses in June 2009. Roget also warned employers that the union would take decisive action against any employer engaging in covert HIV/AIDS testing of employees.
OWTU President General, Ancel Roget
The workshop was attended by some 45 participants from OWTU, as well as representatives from the country’s Communications Workers’ Union, Banking, Insurance and General Workers’ Union, Fires Services Association, and the Estate Police Association. It was sponsored by the Humanity Fund of ICEM affiliate Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada.
The workshop put HIV/AIDS in the context of decent work to reduce and eliminate stigma and discrimination. ILO HIV/AIDS Technical Specialist Madhuri Supersad introduced the new ILO Recommendation No. 200 concerning HIV/AIDS and the World of Work. She said that a focus must be on prevention and that behaviour change and a prevention revolution must begin at the workplace.
The ICEM HIV/AIDS Consultant, Hans J Schwass, reaffirmed the Global Union Federation’s commitment to fight the pandemic. When for every one person put on treatment, there are two new infections, we know that prevention must be our focus and the workplace is an ideal entry point to eliminate stigma and discrimination, and advocate voluntary counselling and testing. He also drew attention to the ICEM website on which a model workplace policy and other materials and resources are available.
Participants under the guidance of OWTU Head of Education and Research, Ozzi Warwick, who organised the workshop, worked on an action plan for 2011, which includes a January 2011 peer educators’ course for two unionists from each of the 27 OWTU units and a minimum of three activities by peer educators within six months of the training. Such activities should comprise workplace interventions, community awareness programmes, and interaction with youth groups and schools.
ILO on World AIDS Day: Workplace Policies to Tackle HIV and AIDS
On World AIDS Day, 1 December, ILO online spoke to Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO Global Programme on HIV and AIDS and the world of work (ILO/AIDS) about progress made on giving effect to Recommendation 200 since its adoption in June 2010.
Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO Global Programme on HIV and AIDS
Kisting said that the response to this strong human rights standard that can help improve the issues of stigma and discrimination at the workplace has been overwhelming. There is also an important understanding that countries need to report back to the Committee of Experts at the 2011 International Labour Conference on progress made in giving effect to the Recommendation.
Referring to the Governing Body’s decision to develop a plan of action, she stated that one of the most important steps is the development of national workplace policies on HIV and AIDS and to make sure that these become part of national programmes and strategies so that the workplace is not separate from the broader national response to HIV and AIDS.
(Source: ILO website Communication and Public Information)
Global Unions on World AIDS Day 2010
In its World AIDS Day statement, the ICEM affirmed that HIV/AIDS is a social disease. HIV transmission mainly takes place along the fault lines caused by poverty, gender inequality, and social injustice. HIV/AIDS is also a workplace issue. The workplace is crucial for successful action to combat the pandemic.
HIV and AIDS funds are in recession due to the impact of the global financial crisis; HIV and AIDS are not in recession. Still for every three people put on treatment, five more become infected. That is why awareness and prevention as well as advocacy for voluntary counselling and testing are crucial in the fight against the epidemic. These are also cornerstones of the ICEM HIV/AIDS project.
HIV is also a human rights issue closely related to workplace non-discrimination laws and regulations. The ICEM calls on its affiliates to negotiate and adopt HIV/AIDS workplace policies, which are rights-oriented, non-discriminatory, and do not victimise people living with HIV and AIDS.
The statement of the Global Unions AIDS Programme (GUAP) reiterated the commitment by trade unions to give effect to the implementation of Recommendation 200. The workplace cannot be left out of a coherent strategy to control the epidemic. GUAP also called for the adoption of national HIV/AIDS workplace policies and for them to be rights-oriented, non-discriminatory, and mainstreamed into national Decent Work strategies.
The International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) reminded unions that World AIDS Day is a focus for action in the workplace. The union movement is intensifying its push for national implementation of the new ILO Recommendation 200 on HIV and AIDS and the world of work. This landmark ILO instrument breaks new ground by providing a framework for HIV and AIDS to be dealt with as a workplace issue, and by reinforcing the human rights consequences of the pandemic.
The ITUC also announced the result of the first-ever writing contest, “Positive Workers Write!” which was open to HIV positive workers in Latin America and the Caribbean.
2010 UNAIDS Report: Beginning to Reverse the Spread of HIV
The 2010 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) shows that the AIDS epidemic is beginning to change course as the number of people newly infected with HIV is declining and AIDS-related deaths are decreasing.
Data from the report show that an estimated 2.6 million people became newly infected and that approximately 1.8 million died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2009. Both figures are down by about 20% compared to those five years ago. Still, 33.3 million are living with HIV. And there are two new infections for every one person starting treatment.
From 2001 to 2009, the rate of new HIV infections stabilized or decreased in 56 countries around the world, including 34 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Among young people in 15 of the most severely affected countries, the rate of new infections has fallen by 25%, led by young people using safer sexual practices. Significant progress has also been made in the prevention of mother- to-child transmissions.
(Source: UNAIDS Press Release, 23 November)
International Guidelines Launched to Protect Health Workers
Health Workers are at the frontline in providing prevention, treatment, and care for people living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. They are at risk of occupational exposure to HIV and TB, but often lack access to protection and treatment.
To address this gap, new international guidelines were launched by the ILO, WHO, and UNAIDS to protect doctors, nurses, and other medical staff. There are an estimated 60 million health workers throughout the world. The 14 action points of the guidelines are based on respect for workers’ rights, as well as practical workplace health and safety programmes.
(Sources: ILO, WHO, UNAIDS Press Release, 19 November)
Global Fund: Serious Deficiencies in Grant Management
The Global Fund Observer devoted its entire issue 132 to reports released by the Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) on deficiencies in grant management and poor performance of principal recipients (PR) in a number of countries.
In Zambia, the PRs have shown evidence of significant financial management and control weaknesses, episodes of misappropriation and fraud, and losses of grant funds, according to a report issued by the OIG. The OIG concluded that the two governmental PRs, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, were not fit to continue as PRs. More than US$10 million in expenses was identified as either ineligible or not properly documented.
According to the OIG, there are a number of significant deficiencies in Cameroon in the financial management control framework of the Ministry of Public Health, principal recipients (PRs) and sub-recipients (SRs). The OIG was particularly critical of the Ministry, which was the PR for five of the six grants. Some US$3.4 million constituted overpayments which have to be recovered. The PR for the sixth grant was Care Cameroon, a non-governmental organisation. The OIG found that the internal control environment at Care Cameroon was strong, and made only minor recommendations.
Insufficient grant management was also reported for Haiti (prior to the earthquake) and Cambodia.
As one consequence, Sweden did not announce a pledge at the Global Fund’s replenishment meeting in New York in early October because it was concerned about how the Global Fund is responding to findings by the OIG concerning misappropriated grant money.
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 132 of 2 November. GFO is a free service of Aidspan www.aidspan.org; to receive GFO send an email to [email protected])
Global Fund Should Expand Non-CCM Window
In an interesting commentary published in the Global Fund Observer issue 133, the author, David Garmaise, argues that it is time for the Global Fund to make some changes to the eligibility criteria for proposals from organisations other than country coordinating mechanisms (CCM). It is evident that in many countries the needs of key vulnerable populations are not being addressed by the national response because CCMs too often are still dominated by government representatives. Civil society organisations could fill this gap.
The Global Fund has always discouraged applications from Non-CCMs, which can apply only if they are from a country that is without a legitimate government; that is, in conflict or in an emergency situation, or that is facing a natural disaster – or if they are from a country that suppresses, or has not established partnerships with civil society. Of the 150 Non-CCM proposals submitted in Rounds 5-9, more than 90% were deemed ineligible. The most common explanation provided for screening out these proposals was that the applicant had failed to explain why it had applied outside its national CCM.
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 133 of 15 November)
News from Global Union Federations
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF – www.itfglobal.org) in its latest HIV/AIDS updates No. 95 and 96 of 1 and 15 November, respectively, reports on HIV/AIDS workshops and strategic campaign meetings by its affiliates in the US, Tanzania, Ecuador, and South Africa.
While we focus on sub-Saharan Africa, it is often forgotten that according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one million people are living with HIV in the US. More than one in five of those people living with HIV are unaware of their infection. Despite increases in the total number of people living with HIV in the US in recent years, the annual number of new HIV infections has remained relatively stable.
Five Years Ago: From the December 2005 Issue
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In future issues, we will refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments.
In December 2005, The ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter reported on the Second Regional HIV/AIDS Workshop held in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the theme “Fighting for our Rights.” This workshop led to the publication of the ICEM Training Manual for Collective Bargaining on HIV/AIDS, a publication which is still relevant and widely used. Furthermore, as witnessed by this issue and previous activities, negotiating HIV/AIDS clauses in collective bargaining agreements and workplace policies has become a focus of ICEM’s HIV/AIDS work. This is also in line with giving effect to the new ILO Recommendation No. 200.
The Epidemic Update 2005, a joint report by UNAIDS and WHO, which was summarised in the December 2005 newsletter, estimated that there were five million new infections in 2005, bringing the total number of people living with HIV and AIDS globally to 40.3 million. As the summary of the 2010 update in this issue shows, some progress has been made since then. But this is still far from satisfactory and universal access goals have not been reached at the end of 2010.
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