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At a time when HIV is still spreading steadily across the globe, we are also witnessing progress in controlling this deadly disease. Responses to the AIDS epidemic have grown and improved considerably over the last few years. The objective of this E-bulletin is to circulate AIDS-related news, publications, literature and research to affiliated unions and others working in this field. It is a part of our new Global HIV/AIDS project, which is targeting ITF affiliates all over the globe. Get involved! For further information and queries please contact Dr. Syed Asif Altaf, Global HIV/AIDS Project Coordinator, Altaf_Asif@itf.org.uk or the Regional Education Coordinator in your ITF region, ITF Education Department: education@itf.org.uk.

This issue of the E-bulletin will look at the ITF campaign against HIV/AIDS urging the affiliates to take part in different activities to raise the profile of HIV/AIDS as a workplace issue; a report on gender sensitization workshop organised by Transport and Dockworkers Union in Kandala, India. The issue will also focus on Malawi about a project to provide individual household HIV/AIDS testing.

World AIDS Day, 2007: ITF campaign against HIV/ AIDS

When HIV/AIDS first emerged in 1981, nobody could have predicted how the epidemic would spread across the world and how many millions of lives it would change. Already, in just twenty-five years more than twenty-five million people have died of AIDS-related diseases. According to UNAIDS estimates, there are 39.5 million people living with HIV, including 2.3 million children, and during 2006 some 4.3 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.

It is now well recognized that to gain the upper hand against the AIDS epidemic, community and membership organizations such as trade unions need to be involved in an active way. To help transport workers all over the world, we as trade unions need to play an active role in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

On 1st of December 2006 we launched our long-term campaign to increase awareness on HIV/AIDS. We urged affiliates to get involved in HIV/AIDS programmes and activities to help members prevent new infections and also to provide necessary care and support to the infected members. This year we will continue our campaign. We have already sent you the campaign guidelines, which we hope, will assist you in planning your activities. We have also attached an order form for you to request campaign materials. Please fill in this form and return it to us so that we can send you the requested materials on time. Please also send us a small report on your activities during World AIDS day, if possible with photographs.

Gender sensitization workshop organised by Transport and Dock workers Union in Kandala port, India

At a time when we are experiencing a rapid feminisation of the HIV epidemic with an increasing number of women infected with HIV, Kandala Transport and Dock Workers Union with active support from Kandala port trust authority organised a gender sensitisation workshop for port workers from September 6-7, 2007. The chairman of the port trust, who in his opening statement applauded the initiatives taken by the union to help its members fight the infection, inaugurated the workshop.

Gender roles and relations that influence the course and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic was the centre point of discussion and debate during the whole workshop. According to the participants the three key factors that contribute to women's vulnerability to HIV are: social norms that deny women sexual health knowledge and practices that prevent them from controlling their bodies or deciding the terms on which they have sex; the prevalence of HIV-related stigma and discrimination (which hinders testing and disclosure of status); gender discriminatory beliefs, which were associated with sexual risk-taking.

The workshop also discussed the importance of involving women union leaders in developing and implementing workplace HIV care and support programmes.

Malawi plans to launch pilot project that will provide individual household HIV/AIDS testing

Malawi, like its neighbours in sub-Saharan Africa, has been severely affected by HIV/AIDS. The first case of AIDS in the country was diagnosed in 1985, and since then epidemiological data show an escalating epidemic. Out of a population of 12.3 million, almost one million people in Malawi were living with HIV at the end of 2005. AIDS is the leading cause of death amongst adults in Malawi, and is a major factor in the country’s low life expectancy of just 38.5 years. The disease has already caused over 650,000 deaths, and AIDS continues to be responsible for the deaths of around ten people every hour.

Central East African Railway Workers' Union (CEARWU) and the Transport & General Workers' Union, ITF affiliates in Malawi are implementing a number of education activities for members. They are also actively involved in programmes organised by the Malawi’s national AIDS Commission.

Recently Malawi's National AIDS Commission has come out with an innovative plan to provide HIV/AIDS testing to individual households. It will be a pilot project with an objective to resolve the inadequate access to HIV testing centres in most rural communities. According to health officials, statistics indicate that majority of HIV-positive Malawians do not know their status; in fact, the statistics also suggest that 15% of the country's six million sexually active residents know their status.