A recent International Labour Organisation (ILO) report once again brings to the fore the issue regarding the massive toll HIV/AIDS is taking on the labour force, and the economic and social implications it is causing on many countries around the world.
The report – The impact of HIV and AIDS on the world of work: Global estimates – prepared in collaboration with UNAIDS, examines how the evolution of the HIV epidemic and the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) have impacted the global labour force, and how they are projected to do so in the future, and assesses the economic and social impacts of HIV on workers and their households.
Worldwide, according to the ILO, the number of workers living with HIV increased from 22.5 million in 2005 to 26.6 million in 2015. Of note is that this figure is projected to rise to close to 30 million in 2020, even if ART is scaled up as projected. It is well known that in addition to human suffering, HIV and AIDS cause billions of dollars in lost earnings, largely as a result of the deaths of hundreds of thousands of workers, which could be prevented if persons are given the necessary treatment and support in a timely manner.
According to the report, the greatest incidence of mortality is among workers in their late 30s. ILO’s Director-General, Guy Ryder, was quoted as saying that this is the age at which workers are normally at the peak of their productive lives, and these deaths are totally avoidable if treatment is scaled up and fast tracked.
There is some encouraging news, though: the number of workers living with HIV either fully or partially unable to work has fallen dramatically since 2005, and this trend is projected to continue. The total number of those estimated to be fully unable to work is expected to decline to about 40,000 in 2020, from a 2005 level of about 350,000 — an 85 per cent decline for men and a 93 per cent decline for women. Additionally, the report shows that labour force deaths attributed to HIV and AIDS are projected to fall to 425,000 in 2020, from 1.3 million in 2005. This could be due to the fact that many more people with HIV are now receiving life-saving drugs which help to keep the virus under control.
In the Caribbean region, we can boast of several successes in relation to our HIV response. Programmes to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, reduce new HIV infections, and treat people living with the virus have yielded encouraging results. Additionally, the Caribbean region has approached the near-universal coverage of antiretroviral medicines to prevent mother-to-child transmission. Some 79 per cent of pregnant women living with HIV now access treatment to prevent passing on the virus. According to official statistics, the Caribbean leads the world in the rates of its reduction in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths.
Here, in Guyana, there is a steady decline in the number of new reported cases of HIV infection among a significantly higher number of persons coming forward to be tested. The programmes that have been implemented have resulted in significant progress being made, and should certainly be continued.
However, the region, including Guyana, cannot become complacent. The gains made could easily be reversed if a lackadaisical approach is taken in the AIDS fight. It should be mentioned that a recent US report on healthcare delivery in Guyana recommended special attention should be paid to HIV/AIDS, so as to maintain the progress that has been achieved.
In order to sustain the advances made, governments and international donor partners need to put more money and effort towards ensuring that their HIV/AIDS programmes can be sustained. For example, more needs to be done to address the prejudice and social inequities that operate to make some people both more vulnerable to HIV infection and less likely to access prevention, testing, treatment, and care services. Young people, men who have sex with men, and sex workers are among the populations that need targeted investments and more protective environments through a combination of social dialogue and increased tolerance.
In the report referred to earlier, the ILO makes an impassioned call for urgent efforts to close the treatment gaps, step up testing and prevention measures, and ensure workers enjoy healthy and productive lives.
