National HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy launched
The Ghana Aids Commission (GAC) has launched a revised National HIV and AIDS Workplace Policy to provide guidelines for mainstreaming HIV/AIDS activities in the world of work.
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This is to help combat the spread and effects of the disease among workers.
Speaking at an end-of-year media engagement in Accra , the Director-General of the GAC, Dr Angela El-Adas, said the policy was also intended to protect persons with HIV/AIDS from all forms of discrimination and stigmatisation at work places.
“The policy is to be implemented actively by employers because it gives full respect to the fundamental human rights of workers, their families and the communities within which they operate,” she said.
The National HIV and AIDS Workplace Policy was first introduced in Ghana in 2005 by the GAC and its partners, to ensure the right to safe environment at the workplace.
Dr El-Adas called on the media to continue supporting the commission to achieve the overall goal of a zero HIV society.
She said the media had a role to play in ensuring the achievement of zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination of HIV/AIDS victims.
She said the GAC would partner the private sector and other public institutions such as the Ghana Football Association to achieve those goals from next year.
She commended the media for supporting the commission in its advocacy to educate the public on the dangers of HIV/AIDS.
The President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Mr Ransford Tetteh, urged the media to continue supporting the GAC to disseminate information on the disease to the public.
He called on journalists to take advantage of workshops and seminars organised by the commission to be abreast of issues related to HIV/AIDS.
“Journalists will give the right information to the public if they have more knowledge on the disease,” he noted.
Mr Tetteh urged the media to be balanced and fair in their reportage by concentrating on developmental issues that would improve the lives of the people.
He called on the media to challenge policy makers to conceive the right policies to ensure that the policy makers performed their responsibilities.
Story by Salomey Appiah