Nigeria: HIV Is Crippling Global Workforce -- ILO *Cumulative Loss Could Rise to 45 Million by 2010
By, Sola Ogundipe, Vanguard (Lagos), December 5, 2006
THE HIV and AIDS epidemic is having a crippling effect on the workforce of many countries in the world, says a new report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO) for World AIDS Day.
In its report, the ILO calls for sustained action, worldwide, to improve access to AVR treatments to cut mortality rates. Without this, it estimates that the cumulative loss to the global workforce from the virus could rise to 45 million by 2010 and almost double again by 2020.
The ILO estimates that more than 36 million people of working age are now living with the virus, the vast majority in sub-Saharan Africa.
It warns that HIV and AIDS is adding an enormous burden to countries struggling to emerge from poverty and this has had a damaging effect on the availability of labour in the worst-affected countries and has stunted economic growth.
In a research conducted on the impact of the virus on 43 countries with some of the highest rates of infection in the world, the ILO found that over 70 per cent of these countries were in sub-Saharan Africa.
Based on its findings, it estimates that 1.3 million new jobs have been lost every year, between 1992 and 2004, because of the virus. This, in turn, reduced annual economic growth by an average of 0.5 per cent over the period and 0.7 per cent for sub-Saharan countries. The report calls for "more employment opportunities for people living with HIV and AIDS and an end to discrimination to help those affected to secure jobs."
More than two million children around the world are now living with AIDS, while those aged 15-24 account for half of new infections. The report says many children are forced to seek employment because they live in extreme poverty, while their parents had either died from AIDS or are too sick to work. Other children find themselves working in unregulated industries, such as the sex trade, which exposed them to being infected. The ILO also highlighted that increased access to ARV treatments could significantly reduce the impact on the global workforce.
"The prospect of averting between one-fifth and one-quarter of potential new losses to the labour force should serve as a powerful incentive to target the workplace as a major entry point to achieve universal access to ARVs," the report concluded.
Annan urges more frank talk on AIDS
In a speech to mark the World AIDS Day, UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, urged more frank and open discussion of the epidemic, saying all politicians must consider themselves personally accountable for stopping the spread of the virus as much as every individual should.
According to Annan: "It requires every one of us to help bring AIDS out of the shadows and spread the message that silence is death."
Several African governments have, in the past, been accused of not doing enough to fight the pandemic. In Nigeria, over four million persons are living with HIV.
India is the new AIDS epicenter of the world.
Figures recently released by the UN reveal that in terms of numbers, India is now facing the most severe HIV and AIDS burden than any country in the world, with 5.7 million people infected. The challenge to control the spread of the virus in India is described as "breathtaking".
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200612050015.html
THE HIV and AIDS epidemic is having a crippling effect on the workforce of many countries in the world, says a new report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO) for World AIDS Day.
In its report, the ILO calls for sustained action, worldwide, to improve access to AVR treatments to cut mortality rates. Without this, it estimates that the cumulative loss to the global workforce from the virus could rise to 45 million by 2010 and almost double again by 2020.
The ILO estimates that more than 36 million people of working age are now living with the virus, the vast majority in sub-Saharan Africa.
It warns that HIV and AIDS is adding an enormous burden to countries struggling to emerge from poverty and this has had a damaging effect on the availability of labour in the worst-affected countries and has stunted economic growth.
In a research conducted on the impact of the virus on 43 countries with some of the highest rates of infection in the world, the ILO found that over 70 per cent of these countries were in sub-Saharan Africa.
Based on its findings, it estimates that 1.3 million new jobs have been lost every year, between 1992 and 2004, because of the virus. This, in turn, reduced annual economic growth by an average of 0.5 per cent over the period and 0.7 per cent for sub-Saharan countries. The report calls for "more employment opportunities for people living with HIV and AIDS and an end to discrimination to help those affected to secure jobs."
More than two million children around the world are now living with AIDS, while those aged 15-24 account for half of new infections. The report says many children are forced to seek employment because they live in extreme poverty, while their parents had either died from AIDS or are too sick to work. Other children find themselves working in unregulated industries, such as the sex trade, which exposed them to being infected. The ILO also highlighted that increased access to ARV treatments could significantly reduce the impact on the global workforce.
"The prospect of averting between one-fifth and one-quarter of potential new losses to the labour force should serve as a powerful incentive to target the workplace as a major entry point to achieve universal access to ARVs," the report concluded.
Annan urges more frank talk on AIDS
In a speech to mark the World AIDS Day, UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, urged more frank and open discussion of the epidemic, saying all politicians must consider themselves personally accountable for stopping the spread of the virus as much as every individual should.
According to Annan: "It requires every one of us to help bring AIDS out of the shadows and spread the message that silence is death."
Several African governments have, in the past, been accused of not doing enough to fight the pandemic. In Nigeria, over four million persons are living with HIV.
India is the new AIDS epicenter of the world.
Figures recently released by the UN reveal that in terms of numbers, India is now facing the most severe HIV and AIDS burden than any country in the world, with 5.7 million people infected. The challenge to control the spread of the virus in India is described as "breathtaking".
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200612050015.html
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 3:43 pm
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