Socialization of ILO Recommendation - Workers’ Social Security and Health: Integrated TB and HIV Prevention and Treatment at the Workplace

A national workshop addressing on Workers’ Social Security and Health : Integrated TB and HIV Prevention and Treatment at the Workplace held on Tuesday, 29 June, in Arya Duta Hotel, Jakarta

The national stakeholder workshop, organized ILO in collaboration with the National Aids Commission and Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, aims to support the Indonesian Government’s achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, especially with regard to social security, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB). In addition, the workshop aims to support the implementation of the Presidential Instruction No 3 of April 2010 which authorizes three main types of social services for the poor, including access to HIV treatment.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading cause of illness and death among people living with HIV. Indonesia has the third-highest number of TB cases in the world after India and China. In 2006, the number of TB patients in Indonesia constituted 7.3 per cent of the total number of TB patients globally.1) In Indonesia, 528,000 TB cases are diagnosed annually, and 91,000 TB mortality cases are registered annually. TB is the third-most frequent cause of death in Indonesia for all age groups, after cardio-vascular disease, and Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI), and the primary cause of death among communicable diseases. The TB prevalence rate in Indonesia in 2009 was 100 in 100.000 persons, of whom 70 per cent were in the productive age.

Meanwhile, Indonesia is currently experiencing one of the fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in Asia. The National AIDS Commission estimates that 390,000 people are living with HIV in Indonesia.2) However, the figure is only believed to be the tip of iceberg of a much larger number of unreported HIV/AIDS cases, most of whom are likely to be in the productive age. Between 11-50 per cent of HIV mortality cases are estimated to be caused by TB.3)

The Ministerial Decree of Manpower and Transmigration 2004 on the HIV/AIDS Prevention Program regulates and guides HIV prevention programmes in the workplace, However, in reality universal access to prevention, treatment and services for workers living with HIV has not been generally implemented, and challenges remain in integrating HIV/AIDS treatment for workers. E.g. the National Health Law on Workers’ Social Security (Jamsostek) No 3 1992 covers treatment of TB for workers, but on the other hand do not cover treatment and care for HIV and STIs for workers. These provisions effective prevent integration of treatment for TB and HIV/AIDS, and block workers’ access to treatment and care for HIV.

In 2008 the ILO conducted a survey of companies in Indonesia, which found that less than 10 per cent of companies in Indonesia have HIV/AIDS programs. As a result, workers have limited or no access to have information, health care and HIV treatment and care.

The Ninety-Ninth Session of the International Labour Conference (June 2010) adopted a Recommendation on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work with the aim to strengthen the standards and guidance on HIV/AIDS interventions in the work place. The Conference also adopted a resolution on promotion and implementation of this Recommendation, which invites the ILO Governing Body to allocate greater resources to give effect to the new Recommendation, and requests that a Global Action Plan be established in order to achieve the widespread implementation of the Recommendation and regular reporting by ILO member States.

Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO Programme on HIV and AIDS and the World of Work stated that “with this new human rights instrument we can harness the strength of the world of work and optimize workplace interventions to significantly improve access to prevention, treatment, care and support. We cannot do it alone but this standard will, I believe, provide a major contribution to making the dream of an AIDS-free generation a reality.”

The national workshop addressing on Workers’ Social Security and Health: Integrated TB and HIV Prevention and Treatment at the Workplace on Tuesday, 29 June, in Arya Duta Hotel, Jakarta aims to support this objective through support for the strengthening of policy and social security systems, in order to integrate TB/HIV prevention, access and treatment for workers at the workplace.

The workshop will be attended by 54 participants from government, trade union, employers association, companies, non government organization, international development partners, and academic institutions.

For further information, please contact:

Adila Arief or Tel.: +62811 891736
Early Dewi Nuriana
or Tel.: +62813 81543799
Aji Dwi Nugroho

--------------------------------
1) Ministry of Health Fact Sheet on March 2008
2) National Aids Commission Strategy (2010)
3) Ministry of Health Fact Sheet on March 2008