FG deliberates compensation for persons living with HIV/AIDS

Speaking during the National Social Insurance Trust Fund and the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association’s Interactive Enlightenment Forum and Awards ceremony held in Abuja, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) HIV/AIDS Desk Officer, Dr Bruno Onosode, noted that 6,300 people die on a daily basis worldwide as a result of occupational disease and injuries, including HIV/AIDS.Delivering the […]

Speaking during the National Social Insurance Trust Fund and the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association’s Interactive Enlightenment Forum and Awards ceremony held in Abuja, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) HIV/AIDS Desk Officer, Dr Bruno Onosode, noted that 6,300 people die on a daily basis worldwide as a result of occupational disease and injuries, including HIV/AIDS.
Delivering the key note address on the theme; HIV/AIDS in the workplace and link to occupational safety and Health,’ Onosode said that there were hurdles to pass in order to prove that the infection was actually contracted in the workplace.
Earlier the Director General of NECA, Mr Olusegun Osinowo, called on all government agencies that have not embraced best practices to do so in the interest of its workers, saying that investigations will soon commence to expose all those agencies not implementing safety rules.
He said, “We want to promote a safe workplace because a safe worker will produce safe work and the way to productivity is through safety.”
The Vice President, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Mr  Issa Aremu, said workers whose job description is not stationery but highly mobile, including truck drivers and health workers should be liable to compensation if they contract HIV in the course of their work.
He said that there are jobs that are exposed to more risks especially nurses and medical workers, saying, “we don’t need to debate it”
 Aremu who said that the Act was coming at the right time, noted. “The whole idea of this Employees Compensation Act 2010 is that even with the best safety measures accident can still occur at the place of work and  if it does,, it doesn’t leave you at the vagaries of the old insurance scheme.”
The forum was held across different zones in the country.