MORE THAN 40 million people worldwide are infected with HIV , and it is estimated that 26 million of these are workers aged 15-49 – the prime of their employable years . As such , the impetus is on workplaces in affected countries to action wellbeing programmes for their people .
Apart from the obvious – and absolutely paramount – moral and human incentive of encouraging testing and providing treatment , the benefits of workplace testing can have a ripple effect : bettering not only the lives of those infected , but their families , co-workers and the population at large . The strength of a prevention programme is important to prevent new cases from occurring . Research has shown that continuous gender inequality and poor knowledge on sexual and reproductive health , certainly among adolescents , feeds the spread of the virus .
All parties – from employers to co-workers – benefit when infected parties are detected as early as possible and provided with the correct treatment to allow them to survive . It is now well established that a correctly treated person living with HIV has a much lesser chance of transmitting the infection to his or her partner .
But there is a psychological dimension here , too . Effective treatment programmes are necessary not only to protect those affected , but also to maintain morale among staff members . At the end of the 20th century , colleagues would become ill and eventually die due to the uncontrolled infection . The perceived lack of control , emotional strain , and negative external signalling is demoralising and can inculcate learned helplessness in our teams . Even if HIV is not directly affecting our own health , it is having a huge impact on our daily lives .
This is why employees and their managers have such a crucial role to play , as advocates to encourage testing and treatment among their peers . It does appear that fear of stigmatisation is still strong and stopping people from getting an HIV test . Stigma might even exist in a company that has pledged and
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