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5.5 The HIV/AIDS threat: Working Out of Poverty

Written by: International Labour Organization

Article Overview: Over 25 million workers are infected with HIV/AIDS, and millions more affected by the pandemic. The ILO has calculated that the size of the labour force in high-prevalence countries will be between 10 and 30 per cent smaller by 2020 than it would have been without the effect of HIV/AIDS, which poses a serious threat to economic growth and development prospects. Macroeconomic performance is undermined by rising labour costs associated with the pandemic, through skills shortages, sickness and absenteeism and reduced productivity and economic competitiveness, resulting in a shrinking tax base, less foreign investment and fewer jobs.

5.5 The HIV/AIDS threat: Working Out of Poverty

Over 25 million workers are infected with HIV/AIDS, and millions
more affected by the pandemic. The ILO has calculated that the size of the
labour force in high-prevalence countries will be between 10 and 30 per cent
smaller by 2020 than it would have been without the effect of HIV/AIDS,
which poses a serious threat to economic growth and development prospects.
Macroeconomic performance is undermined by rising labour costs
associated with the pandemic, through skills shortages, sickness and absenteeism
and reduced productivity and economic competitiveness, resulting in
a shrinking tax base, less foreign investment and fewer jobs.

Household income is eroded by the loss of employment or lower productivity,
especially in agriculture, while health-related costs rise. Moreover,
the workforce of the future is weakened as children are taken out of school
to help care for sick relatives, to raise income for the family, or because they
have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Education services are being decimated
by the high mortality rate amongst teachers. Government revenues
from both individuals and enterprises are reduced at a time when social
spending, especially on health, needs to increase. The cumulative effect is a
slowdown, or even reversal, of economic growth and an escalation of
poverty.

The disproportionate effect of the pandemic in relation to discrimination
was discussed in Chapter 3. Women are more negatively affected by
HIV/AIDS the greater the gender discrimination in societies. They are more
vulnerable to HIV/AIDS because of social, cultural, economic and biological
factors. Their sexual and economic subordination to men means that they
often do not have the power to negotiate safe sex or refuse unsafe sex. In addition,
the power imbalance between men and women – at the workplace as
in the home – exposes women to the threat of sexual violence and harassment.
Women’s roles as mothers and caregivers mean that their ability to obtain
and retain employment is more easily disrupted by HIV/AIDS. As a
result of absences from work, women lose their jobs, or trading or other production
opportunities, and it is often difficult to re-enter the formal or informal
labour market.

Social protection resources to mitigate the wide-ranging effects of HIV/
AIDS are limited, particularly in countries severely affected by the pandemic.
Public expenditures on social security and health have often been cut
as part of structural adjustment programmes. As a result, the costs of care
are passed on to communities where families are doing their best to provide
care for people who are falling sick and eventually dying, with the extra burdens
generally resting on women’s shoulders.

Workers in the informal economy are particularly vulnerable to HIV/
AIDS, in terms both of susceptibility and impact of the pandemic. Firstly, poverty and low education levels are associated with a higher likelihood of
engaging in unprotected sexual behaviour and thereby contracting the virus.
Secondly, enterprises in the informal economy are usually small and labour
intensive which means that they rely heavily on one or a few operators.
When a worker falls sick and eventually dies, it is very difficult for these
small enterprises to stay in business. The precarious nature of informal employment,
the lack of social protection and limited access to health services
also compound the impact of the disease for individual workers. As workers
in the informal economy are usually not members of trade unions or business
networks, and government involvement is by definition very limited, HIV/
AIDS prevention and mitigation programmes face a particular challenge in
reaching out to informal economy operators.

Migrant populations are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection for a
variety of reasons, including isolation and loss of social networks, and limited
access to health services, social protection and education, especially in the
case of illegal migrants. Seafaring, trucking, itinerant trading and other
highly mobile occupations involve an above-average risk of HIV infection,
given the workers’ separation from their families and the availability of alcohol
and sex along many transport routes.

Following the adoption of the resolution concerning HIV/AIDS and
the world of work by the International Labour Conference at its 88th Session
in June 2000, the ILO has developed a major programme of activities to assist
governments, employers and unions in developing new or improved policy
frameworks to combat HIV/AIDS. Technical cooperation activities are
under way in Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malaysia, Saint Lucia, the United
Republic of Tanzania, Thailand and Uganda, and others are in the pipeline.
The centrepiece of the programme is an ILO code of practice on HIV/AIDS
and the world of work developed through an intensive process of consultation
with the ILO’s tripartite constituents. Formally launched at the United
Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (New York, 25-27
June 2001), it received the support of the United Nations Secretary-General,
as well as national leaders, corporations, labour organizations and NGOs.

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Article Tags: aids education services, biological factors, development prospects, disproportionate effect, economic competitiveness, economic growth and development, gender discrimination, government revenues, high mortality rate, hiv aids, household income, labour costs, labour force, macroeconomic performance, power imbalance, safe sex, sexual violence, sick relatives, skills shortages, unsafe sex



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