Health 
In Botswana, African trade unions declare war on AIDS 

“We are committing ourselves to make the HIV/AIDS campaign the mother of all campaigns by trade unions”, Andrew Kailembo, general secretary of the ICFTU-AFRO told delegates. The terrible human cost of the disease, affecting large portions of the working age population on the African continent (in Botswana where the conference is being held one in three persons – 300,000 people – is living with the virus), the discrimination faced at work by its victims, its development and social impact, the urgent need to make medical treatment affordable... were among the reasons cited to justify “unprecedented mobilisation by trade unions”.

According to figures made available during today’s session, one in every five deaths on the African continent is attributable to HIV/AIDS. South Africa has the fastest rate of new HIV infections in the world, with around 1,500 people being newly infected each day. World-wide, over 11 million people have died of AIDS and over 34 million more are currently living with HIV/AIDS, most of these in Sub-Saharan Africa. Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe have been among the hardest hit, with between 20 and 26 percent of those aged 15 to 49 years living with HIV/AIDS.

“By the very nature of their occupation, transport workers in cross border activities (particularly in the road transport and seafarers) have been more vulnerable in contracting the disease. Similar risks have also been observed in the mining communities of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, and the agricultural and plantation sectors in Eastern Africa. The commercial and hotel sectors workers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have also experienced increased incidences of infection resulting from their day-to-day activities”, Kailembo said.

Addressing the meeting ICFTU President Fackson Shamenda (Zambia), also focused on the need to make the shop steward “the entry point” for the union campaign. But he also denounced international financial institutions structural adjustment programmes which only leave “peanuts to the health sector” as well as governments that fail to address the issue. “In situations of political instability and abuse of human rights, where governments are not accountable to the people, it becomes difficult to dedicate national efforts towards combating the disease”, he said. The conference continues until Friday where a plan of action will be released.

Sources: ICFTU

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