HIV infected should be protected from job termination’

Employees affected by HIV should be provided with an environment conducive to their situation as working under stress would hamper their clinical progress, Dr. Shantha Hettiarachchi of Health Education Bureau Colombo said.

HIV is a disease that has affected a large number in the productive age of between 15 to 49 years. This calls for a working environment free from stress and fear of dismissal, he said referring to a recent court case against an employer who had dismissed an employee for contracting HIV.

The patients need to maintain mental stabilization as stress would lower the immunity level further and thereby create unnecessary complications, Dr. Hettiarachchi said.

The Minister of Health recently assured that a legal framework will be introduced to restrain employers from dismissing employees infected by HIV as it is not a disease that could be spread by working together.

In Sri Lanka, HIV infected at a work place is not common as in other countries where a higher number of HIV patients are reported. Therefore, this is an issue that needed special attention to ensure the rights of the HIV infected are safeguard, he said. A regulation will go a long way in this regard he said adding that this should be viewed in a human angle rather than a legal requirement.