HIV/AIDS would reduce local workforce by 10.5% by 2020 - Labour specialist projects

Source: Guyana Chronicle, 9th April 2008

INTERNATIONAL Labour Organisation (ILO) Specialist for Employers’ Activities, Ms. Luesette Howell, is projecting that the HIV/AIDS virus is projected to reduce the local labour force by some 10.5 per cent by 2020.

Ms. Howell made the disclosure at a recent forum held at the Cara Lodge Hotel on Quamina Street, Georgetown to sensitise employers on the importance of an HIV/AIDS workplace programme.

According to Ms. Howell, the epidemic is expected to substantially trim down the Caribbean labour force in another 12 years with The Bahamas being reduced by nearly four per cent; the Dominican Republic by over six per cent and Haiti just under nine per cent.

She pointed out that the labour force worldwide in high-prevalence countries is likely to lessen by 10 to 30 per cent in the next decade.

She also stressed that the disease will negatively affect employers by resulting in the loss of skilled and experienced workers, absenteeism and early retirement, stigmatisation of infected workers, increased labour costs for employers from health insurance to retaining, reduced productivity, contracting tax base and downturn in economic growth.

Other constraints Ms. Howell highlighted include:

* discouragement in investment and undermining the development of enterprise;

* undermining social protection system;

* loss of family income and house hold productivity, exacerbating poverty;

* increase in female-headed households;

* early entry of children into active employment, thereby exacerbating the problem of child labour and poverty and

* pressure on girls and women to survive through sexual favours.

The labour specialist underscored that the ILO through its HIV/AIDS workplace programme seeks to accelerate response in the fight against HIV/AIDS through a collaborative efforts involving government, employers and workers.

Some of the ILO’s initiatives to tackle the scourge include expanding workplace education, reducing employment-related stigma and discrimination, increasing access to prevention, care, support and treatment services and encouraging the adoption of national workplace training programmes.

The local business community with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Health having recognised that Guyana has one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the Pan Caribbean region, has provided a robust and rapid response to help mitigate threats to its workers’ health.

During the past three years, USAID and the Guyana HIV/AIDS Reduction and Prevention Project (GHARP) have helped bring together 42 organisations that are now engaged in a variety of efforts to address HIV/AIDS not only in the workplace, but the community.

GHARP and its partners have helped organisations access tools and support in a number of ways, including:
* in-house workplace training;
* workplace policy and implementation;
* peer education;
* in-house committees and events;
* linkages to related programmes, products and services such as voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), condoms, home-based care, treatment, etc and
* communication activities related to prevention and awareness of HIV/AIDS.