http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6197074.stm
HIV 'afflicting global workforce'

HIV/Aids is having a crippling effect on the workforce of many
countries, a report by the International Labour Organization for World
Aids Day says.

The ILO said HIV/Aids killed almost 3.5 million people of working age
in 2005.

South Africa, among the worst-affected nations, has announced a plan
aiming to halve the infection rate by 2011 and to boost the use of
antiretrovirals.

In a speech to mark World Aids Day, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
urged more frank and open discussion of HIV/Aids.

All politicians had to consider themselves personally accountable for
stopping the spread of the disease, Mr Annan said, as did every
individual.

"It requires every one of us to help bring Aids out of the shadows and
spread the message that silence is death," he said.

Graph of HIV/Aids infection rates worldwide

South Africa's government has in the past been accused of not doing
enough to fight the HIV/Aids pandemic.

More than five million South Africans are infected with the virus.

Zulu dancers perform on World Aids Day in Nelspruit, South Africa
HIV/Aids is costing 1.3m jobs a year, many in sub-Saharan Africa

The announcement by Deputy-President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of a
five-year action plan was expected to mark a significant change in
policy.

However, the BBC's Southern Africa correspondent Peter Biles says
Friday's launch was downgraded from a fully-fledged plan to a
framework document.

Many details of the new policy have still to be spelt out, he says.

South Africa's former policy, which emphasised diet over the use of
antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, was widely criticised.

The health minister responsible, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, is reported
currently to be on sick leave and has played little part in recent
developments, our correspondent adds.

'Breathtaking' challenge

Figures recently released by the UN reveal that in terms of numbers,
India is now facing the most severe HIV/Aids burden of any country in
the world, with 5.7 million people infected.

Former US President Bill Clinton said in a BBC interview that India
was the new epicentre of global infection.

He described the challenge to control the spread of the virus in India
as "breathtaking".

Elsewhere, countries are marking World Aids Day with a series of
events, including:

   * The broadcast of radio and television messages in 25 countries
across Africa aimed at preventing the spread of the disease among
young people

   * A march by Indonesian activists through the streets of the
capital, Jakarta, demanding an end to the stigma attached to HIV/Aids

   * A plan by activists in Thailand to create the world's "longest
condom chain", a ribbon of 25,000 condoms stretching through a Bangkok
park

   * An announcement by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
for an extra US$170m (£83m) to help its Asia-Pacific neighbours tackle
the HIV/Aids epidemic

In its report, the ILO calls for sustained action worldwide to improve
access to AVR treatments to cut mortality rates.

Without this, it estimates that the cumulative loss to the global
workforce from the virus could rise to 45 million by 2010 and almost
double again by 2020.

ILO estimates that more than 36 million people of working age are now
living with the virus, the vast majority in sub-Saharan Africa.
   
This has had a damaging effect on the availability of labour in the
worst-affected countries and has stunted economic growth.

The ILO conducted research into the impact of the virus on 43
countries with some of the highest rates of infection in the world.

More than 70% of these countries were in sub-Saharan Africa.

Based on its findings, it has estimated that 1.3 million new jobs have
been lost every year between 1992 and 2004 because of the virus.

This, in turn, reduced annual economic growth by an average of 0.5%
over the period and 0.7% for sub-Saharan countries.

"HIV/Aids is adding an enormous burden to countries struggling to
emerge from poverty," said Odile Frank, one of the report's authors.

"We need more employment opportunities for people with HIV/Aids and an
end to discrimination against people with the virus to help them to
secure work."

Treatment imperative
More than two million children around the world are now living with
Aids while those aged 15-24 account for half of new infections.

The ILO said many children were forced to seek employment because they
were living in extreme poverty, while their parents had either died
from Aids or were too sick to work.

Other children found themselves working in unregulated industries such
as the sex trade which exposed them to being infected.

The ILO said increased access to ARV treatments could significantly
reduce the impact on the global workforce.

"The prospect of averting between one-fifth and one-quarter of
potential new losses to the labour force should serve as a powerful
incentive to target the workplace as a major entry point to achieve
universal access to ARVs," the report concluded.