The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : HIV counselling centres in industries under consideration

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 30, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

HIV counselling centres in industries under consideration

Special Correspondent

AIDS control society for partnership with industry

— Photo: K. Pichumani

AIDS AWARENESS: Supriya Sahu , Project Director, Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (second from left), releases a poster on HIV Intervention in the work place, at a workshop in Chennai on Wednesday.

CHENNAI : The Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society is examining the possibility of establishing voluntary counselling and testing centres (VCTCs) in industries, its Project Director Supriya Sahu said.

The society hopes to establish a partnership with industrial houses whichemploy several thousands of workers , to implement the project, she added.

Ms. Sahu also suggested that the International Labour Organisation provide technical support to the society to take forward and implement the HIV/AIDS at workplace policy in industries based in Tamil Nadu.

It is important for industry to realise the importance of addressing HIV/AIDS issues at the workplace before the condition begins to have an impact on productivity, as has been proved by the African experience.

It was in the best interests of industry and its workers to take note of the issue before it was blown out of proportion, she added.

Workshop

Ms. Sahu released posters on HIV Intervention in workplace in six different languages.

She was participating in a workshop on the rights of positive people at workplace, organised by the Indian Network for People living with HIV/AIDS in collaboration with Family Health International and the International Labour Organisation.

Mohammed Afsar, Technical Specialist, ILO, said while some companies had seen the benefits of using HIV advocacy in the workplace, much more had to be done to involve the bulk of the workforce.

Currently, it was not a priority for companies, he added.

H. Kannan, Vice-President (HR) PepsiCo, said they had covered between 3000 and 4000 people, including workers and their families, as part of the HIV advocacy programme. He said it would be prudent to pay attention to HIV in the workplace, for in the long run it is likely to become a business sustainability issue.

Desikacharya, project manager, Family Health International, Tamil Nadu and K.K.Abraham, president, INP+ were among those who addressed the gathering of positive people from different States.

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