AIDS and the right to work, Asia and the Middle East lag behind

According to a survey released by the World Labor Organization in Asia and the Middle East, only 40% of respondents believe that it is right for an HIV-positive person to work in contact with other people. Indonesia, Pakistan and China are the countries with the highest number of opponents.

Geneva (AsiaNews) - According to a global survey commissioned by the World Labour Organization, Asia and the Middle East are the two regions of the world where stigma towards people with AIDS remains highest in the workplace. The report - commissioned from Gallup on the occasion of today's World AIDS Day - was conducted in 51 different countries around the world asking the question: do you think it is fair that people with HIV are allowed to work in any kind of job in contact with people who are not HIV positive?

At the regional level, the lowest level of positive responses was recorded in Asia, with consensus standing at just 40.6% of respondents. The number is slightly higher in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa: only 42% of those surveyed believe it is fair that people with AIDS be able to work side by side with all other people. In all other areas of the world, the figure is well above half of those surveyed, with a peak of 89.9 in Africa, the continent most seriously afflicted by HIV where sensitivity to this type of discrimination is very high.

Looking at the data for individual countries, the one where the idea of access to employment for people with AIDS is least popular is Indonesia, where just 27.3% of those interviewed said they were in favor. Slightly higher figures come from Pakistan (31.6%), China (35.6%), Saudi Arabia (38.8%) and India (46.8%). On the other hand, those most in favor of allowing HIV-positive individuals to continue working are found in Cambodia (73.3%), Vietnam (62.3%) and Thailand (56.3%).