FG calls for increased awareness on HIV in workplace

The Federal Government has called for increased awareness and sensitisation on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in order to fight the stigma and discrimination associated with it in the workplace.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, William Alo, made the call at the flag-off of the Sensitisation Seminar held for the Ministry’s Staff in commemoration of the 2019 World AIDS Day, in Abuja.

The Permanent Secretary noted that though a major global health issue, “HIV has also become a workplace issue, due to its implications for workers’ health and productivity, as the vast majority of People Living with HIV are those in the prime of their working lives.”

He added that the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV in the workplace could also constitute a threat to the fundamental rights of employees living with HIV.

According to him, “HIV is still very much around, and there is still a dire need to continue to raise awareness, fight stigma and discrimination often associated with it, and improve education concerning it”.

The Permanent Secretary therefore called on employees to lend a hand in creating more awareness on HIV, noting that “the workplace itself constitutes an appropriate platform to tackle HIV /AIDS.”