STEVEN MANN, Cape Town | Tuesday 3.45pm.
THE Congress of South African Trade Union has declared war against HIV/Aids and called on the government to declare the epidemic a national emergency.
“Government alone cannot win the war against HIV and Aids. Cosatu affiliates and members are in the front-line in the war against AIDS,” Cosatu’s Western Cape regional secretary Evan Abrahams told journalists.
The labour federation, the country’s largest, on Tuesday gathered 400 of its shop stewards at the Cape Town city hall for training on how to educate their co-workers about Aids and handed out condoms at railway stations.
The Western Cape initiative is to be extended nation-wide, and will considerably boost efforts to educate people about the disease.
The government estimates that about four million South Africans are infected with HIV/Aids.
Abrahams said Cosatu would encourage its leadership and members to voluntarily take HIV tests in an attempt to break the silence about the disease. “A new culture of openness will be encouraged.”
Cosatu also plans to ensure medical aids provide affordable treatment for people with HIV and AIDS and would fight discrimination against sufferers.
Federation officials said they had noticed a marked increase in absenteeism on shop floors and said it could largely be blamed on Aids.