News

UNI-Africa Finance affiliates have urged financial institutions to promote joint partnerships with unions in fighting the scourge of HIV.

The UNI-Africa finance Group noted at its meeting in Johannesburg recently that HIV/AIDS has become a serious social, health, economic & development problem in sub-Sahara Africa where 26 million people living with the virus.

Access to treatment is still unaffordable to many AIDS sufferers. Seventy-two per cent of people who need ARVs in Africa are not getting them.

The meeting noted that Barclays bank and ABSA were among financial institutions that was doing a lot to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on its employees and the community.

A number of financial unions in Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia have started to include the issue of HIV/AIDS in their collective agreements with companies.

The meeting recommended that trade unions should:

• negotiate HIV policies in CBAs

• develop HIV policies for union staff

• prioritise treatment, care & support

• promote access to affordable AIDS drugs

• be involved in HIV policy development & implementation at national level.