PHA-Exchange> TRADE UNION ACTIVISTS CALL TO FUEL THE FIGHT AGAINSTHIV/ AIDS

[Claudio]

From: UNNIKRISHNAN P.V. (Dr) 

ASIA  PACIFIC  ALLIANCE  TO  COMBAT  HIV & AIDS  &
ACTIONAID INTERNATIONAL

 

PRESS RELEASE:   New Delhi, 3rd December 2004: 

 

"TRADE UNION ACTIVISTS CALL TO

FUEL THE FIGHT AGAINST HIV/ AIDS".

 

Trade Union activists gave a strong call to join hands in the fight against HIV/ AIDS. The call was given during a two days Asia Pacific Conference on HIV/ AIDS and Governance. 

 

70 participants from over 15 countries are attending this conference that is being organized jointly by Asia Pacific People's Alliance to Combat HIV/ AIDS (APPACHA) and ActionAid International- (AAI). 

 

"Dialogues are not enough. Get to the streets to fight for access and medicines" said     Ms. Junya Yimprasert, a trade union activist from Thai Labour Campaign, Thailand. Trade unions in Thailand are playing a crucial role in fighting for the rights of workers by opposing unfair trade and management practices.

 

International Labour Organization (ILO) recently warned that those of working age are hardest hit by HIV/AIDS. "An estimated 37 million people of working age have HIV, and by next year (2005) as many as 28 million workers will have been lost to the global labour force since the start of the epidemic due to HIV/AIDS" says a study by ILO. The study warns that in the absence of increased access to treatment, the losses will increase to 74 million by 2015, making HIV/AIDS one of the biggest causes of mortality in the world of work."

 

HIV/ AIDS pushes children into work and amplifies the strain on others. Families are split because of deficit in decent work opportunities. The epidemic often forces women and men to find work far from home - often in conditions of heightened vulnerability to infection. Women are bearing the largest share of costs.


 

AIDS activists from Thailand warned about the devastating impacts of Free Trade Agreement between Thailand and United States.

 

The two days conference is expected to strengthen ties between People Living with HIV/ AIDS, trade unionists, health and human rights activists, law makers, medical professionals, politicians and international agencies. 

 

APPACHA is a new initiative that brings people from various walks of life together (like People living with HIV/ AIDS, trade unions, student and youth groups, health activists and others) in the fight against HIV/ AIDS. AAI works in over 40 countries, some of them 'flash points' of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic.

 

 

For media enquiries: contact Dr. Unnikrishnan          E-mail: unni at actionaid.org Web: www.actionaid.org
 

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