Developing Workplace HIV/AIDS Programmes

Don't forget to take the salary survey, you might win a prize.

Every workplace should work towards developing an HIV/AIDS programme. The programme should be focused on a number of aims, including preventing the spread of the disease, and providing care and support for employees who are infected or affected. The programme should also look at managing the impact of HIV/AIDS in the organisation.

The structure of a workplace programme should take into account the needs, as well as the capabilities, of each individual workplace. However, these are the key areas that need to be addressed in every workplace programme:

• Hold regular HIV/AIDS awareness programmes
• Encourage voluntary testing
• Education and training on HIV/AIDS
• Promote condom distribution and use
• Encourage health seeking behaviour for STDs
• Enforce the use of universal infection control measures
• Create an environment that is conducive to openness, disclosure and acceptance amongst all staff
• Try to establish a wellness programme for employees affected by HIV/AIDS
• Provide access to counselling and other forms of social support for people affected by HIV/AIDS
• Maximise the performance of affected employees through reasonable accommodation, such as investigations into alternative sick leave allocation
• Develop strategies to address direct and indirect costs associated with HIV/AIDS in the workplace
• Regularly monitor, evaluate and review the programme.