ITF Launches HIV/AIDS in Aviation Resource

www.itfglobal.org/infocentre/pubs.cfm/detail/36164

2 October 2012

ITF Launches HIV/AIDS in Aviation Resource

Global union the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) will launch a new resource pack for tackling the issue of HIV/AIDS in the world’s civil aviation industry tomorrow. The pack will be unveiled to representatives of worldwide aviation unions meeting at the ITF in London this week, and will then be available on request and to download from www.itfglobal.org/infocentre/pubs.cfm/detail/36164

The publication of the resource pack is the direct result of a survey* on how HIV/AIDS affects aviation personnel which was released by the ITF on World AIDS Day 2010. That survey revealed widely differing responses to and knowledge of the issue and signalled the need for new research, policies and also materials – for which this pack is the response.

The 70 page publication – HIV/AIDS and Civil Aviation, A Resource Pack for Unions – examines the extent of HIV/AIDS in civil aviation and provides factsheets on everything from prevention and tackling stigma and discrimination to building workplace policies, programmes and structures. These are supported by ‘what would you do if?’ scenarios and case studies of work undertaken by trade unions, and by the International Labour Organization’s (ACTRAV) Toolkit on HIV/AIDS for Trade Unions.

In the introduction to the pack, ITF global HIV/AIDS coordinator Dr Asif Altaf and ITF civil aviation secretary Gabriel Mocho state: ‘The ITF is committed to taking action on HIV/AIDS for the benefit of our affiliates, their members, and transport workers and their families globally.

Our strategy is to provide information and support on a global basis, across all sectors, while seeking to identify and analyse the specific risks and needs of each sector. To this end we have carried out surveys and – on the basis of their findings – put programmes in place.

The civil aviation survey(2010) revealed a range of needs among the membership as well as interest and commitment on the part of affiliates to take action. Union officials in 24 affiliates out of 25 who took part asked for ITF assistance in starting or expanding HIV/AIDS activities for members and developing policies or agreements for their workplaces. As a result this resource pack has been developed with the aim of responding to these requests and offering information and guidance to our civil aviation affiliates and all others with a stake in the industry, taking into account the survey findings.

What has emerged clearly is the importance of making connections between different industries and branches in the world of transport. Just as HIV doesn’t recognise geographicalboundaries neither does it respect industrial demarcation lines. The ITF will therefore help its affiliates to focus on the dynamics of the epidemic in their own sectors at the same time as facilitating contact and collaboration among them, especially in the same countries and sub-regions.

We stand ready to offer support to our affiliates in the face of this complex and dangerous disease for as long as it takes for the epidemic to be brought under control and finally eliminated.’

*See www.itfglobal.org/press-area/index.cfm/pressdetail/5427

ENDS

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