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Trade Union responses to HIV/AIDS in the South Pacific
Report of a needs analysis survey for ILO and SPOCTU
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is creating increasingly significant health, social and economic problems. By 2003, 42 million people were estimated to be living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which over time severely affects the immune system and renders the body vulnerable to opportunistic infections such as thrush, tuberculosis, pneumonia and diarrhoea. Two-thirds of cases are in sub-Saharan Africa but the disease is now spreading rapidly in the Asia-Pacific region. More than 20 million people have died of AIDS related conditions since 1981 when the disease was first identified. Worldwide in 2003, 5 million people were newly infected with HIV and 3 million died of AIDS.
HIV/AIDS has affected most Pacific island countries and territories (PICT) very gradually and relatively recently, except in Papua New Guinea (PNG) where the disease is now generalised in the population and growing rapidly. HIV/AIDS is posing an increasing threat to PICT, adding to the serious problems created by development, rapid socio-economic change, and population growth. As representatives of workers and promoters of labour rights, trade unions are key institutions in addressing these problems. This report examines how trade unions in the South Pacific are responding to the threat of HIV/AIDS and assesses how their responses can be improved.
The full report can be downloaded by clicking the link below.
Download full report:
Trade Union responses to HIV/AIDS in the South Pacific [ pdf ]
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