Train the Trainer Programme on HIV Prevention at workplace:

Call to take up HIV education as an important workplace issue

More companies must take up HIV education as an important workplace issue and strive to reach all employees and their families and also adopt policies that would ensure non-discrimination of positive persons and protect their employment rights, said Dr Indira Hettiarachchi, National Project Coordinator (HIV Workplace Education and Prevention) of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Dr Hettiarachchi was speaking at the Train the Trainer Programme on HIV Prevention at the workplace conducted by ILO and the Employers' Federation (EFC). The two day programme was held in Colombo recently. Representatives from MAS Holdings, John Keells Holdings, Aitken Spence PLC, Hatton National Bank, Cargills Ceylon PLC and Ceylon Tea Services PLC (Dilma) attended the programme.

The latest batch of 26 trainers joined over 200 trainers trained by the ILO and the EFC since the commencement of the ILO HIV/AIDS Workplace Education and Prevention Programme in 2004.

Dr Hettiarachchi commended the initiative "considering the fact that Sri Lanka has a low HIV prevalence, with the ILO's technical support the EFC has effectively mobilised the private sector to conduct HIV prevention programmes in workplaces thus making a praiseworthy contribution to the national response."

Although Sri Lanka is fortunate in that it has remained a low-prevalence country in terms of HIV infection rates, 30-40 new infections are now reported quarterly, according to data compiled by the national STD/AIDS Control Programme (NSACP).

Recognising the need for multi-stakeholder interventions in the prevention efforts, several Sri Lankan businesses have taken the initiative to commence workplace education programmes on the prevention of HIV for their employees.