Experts say HIV programs should target unorganized labor in India

via The Hindu

HIV prevention programmes need to reach out to the vast, unorganised labour class, according to experts at a workshop here on Tuesday.

Though the corporate sector has responded to the magnitude of HIV/AIDS — an estimated 90 per cent of HIV infections being reported are in the productive 15-49 year age group — through various measures, the sector needs to closely partner with the government in extending programmes to the unorganised labour segment, participants at the event hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said.

Addressing the meet on ‘HIV/AIDS: Partnerships in Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support', V. Palanikumar, Project Director and Member Secretary Tamil Nadu State AIDS Controls Society (TANSACS), said studies had shown that the informal/unorganised sector, which was significantly at higher infection risk than the general population, was also the most difficult segment to reach.

Of the 400 million members of the workforce in India, only 7 per cent are in the organised sector, leaving 93 per cent in the unorganised and migrant sectors.

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