Colombo 2007 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific
8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific
Colombo 2007 8th International Congress on AIDS
19-23 August 2007
Colombo, Sri Lanka
PSAP was given a scholarship to attend the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP8) held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 19-23 August 2007. PSAP had earlier proposed to ICAAP8 organizers a POSTER PRESENTATION on the theme “Seafarers’ Work and Play: Developing a Transnational Approach to HIV/AIDS Prevention”.
The Poster Presentation was meant to be the most suitable medium to dramatize the issues and difficulties faced by a civil society organization like PSAP in developing and implementing a HIV/AIDS prevention campaign for seafarers. While the need for a trans-national prevention campaign is clearly present in the case of this high-risk population, the experience of PSAP shows the woeful lack of support mechanisms to assist carry forward any transnational HIV/AIDS prevention project. As a result, seafarers’ exposure to risks remains un-mitigated.
The Poster Presentation contemplated displaying some professionally captured photos of seafarers which have been taken from PSAP’s unique photo collection of seafarers’ working and living conditions.
Please contact Dr. Peter Payoyo if you wish to know more about PSAP’s continuing HIV/AIDS prevention campaign for seafarers, which began way back in 1997!
Illustrative poster presentation photo: HIV/AIDS and Basic Instincts of Seafarers
ICAAP8 was also a great opportunity for the ICSW, IMHA and the ITF to host a satellite meeting on “AIDS in the Transport Industry”. Dr. Suresh Idani, ICSW Regional Coordinator and IMHA Vice-President, chaired this meeting. During the meeting, the ITF and IMHA delivered a “Joint Statement on HIV/AIDS at Sea”, as follows:
Through this statement and the position it lays out the ITF and IMHA aim to increase their support for international and national commitments to protect the rights and dignity of seafarers and all people living with HIV/AIDS.
The IMHA and ITF consider HIV as a workplace issue that should be treated like any other serious illness/condition on board a vessel. We believe that HIV/AIDS should not be considered to be a condition that poses a threat to public health in relation to shipping because, although infectious, HIV cannot be transmitted by casual contact or the mere presence of a person with HIV. HIV is transmitted through specific behaviour which is almost always private. The occupational exposure risks of HIV infection at sea are slight and limited to the treatment of injuries and to procedures undertaken by the small number of healthcare staff working on large vessels. There are well established precautions to avoid these risks. Sexual or blood borne transmission are not likely routes for transmission of infection in the normal course of work at sea. There should be no discrimination against seafarers on the basis of real or perceived HIV status. HIV infection is not a cause for termination of employment at sea and persons with HIV related illness should be able to work for as long as medically fit in an available, appropriate workplace. Any travel or work related restriction should only be imposed on the basis of an individual interview/examination. ITF and IMHA consider selection for employment based on HIV status as unacceptable. HIV testing should be a matter for the individual and his/her clinical advisers, and not a condition for obtaining employment. The purpose of maritime medical fitness assessment is to ensure that any medical condition does not put other people at risk and that the individual is not at excess personal risk from the condition while working at sea. Recognising that many countries require HIV testing for immigration purposes and many employers for pre-recruitment and periodic medical assessment of seafaring personnel for the purposes of establishing fitness, the IMHA and ITF recommend that such testing be conducted only when accompanied by counseling for both HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals and referral to medical and psychosocial services for those who receive a positive test result. That testing must be voluntary has to remain at the heart of all HIV policies and programmes in the shipping industry, both to comply with human rights principles and to ensure sustained public health benefits.
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