Beverley Lopez (centre), president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, listens to Annesha Taylor (right), a person living with HIV/AIDS, as she talks about her condition on Monday. From left are Winston Dear, immediate past president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Ainsley Reid, a person living with HIV/AIDS; and Doreen Frankson, president of the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association. The occasion was a breakfast meeting hosted by the business community to interact with persons living with the disease. - PHOTOS BY RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
AINSLEY REID, programme officer for HIV/AIDS at the Caribbean Conference of Churches, has commended the private sector for embarking on a campaign to fight the stigma and discrimination against persons with the disease. "It (the stigma) is a very heavy burden that many people are carrying to the extent that in a breakfast room like this, some will admit we are HIV-positive but as soon as we exit the door, we are not living with AIDS again," he said.
NOTHING TO FEAR
Mr. Reid was speaking on Monday at a breakfast meeting hosted by senior business leaders and held at the central Kingston offices of the Gleaner Company Ltd. This symbolic breakfast was intended as a public demonstration that there was nothing to fear from eating, touching and socialising with persons living with AIDS.
Mr. Reid, who is HIV-positive, told the meeting that stigma and related discrimination make people afraid to disclose their status, especially in an environment with no clear HIV/AIDS policy.
He said there have been cases where once persons' positive status was disclosed or discovered through confidentiality breaches, HIV-positive persons encountered scorn, lost their jobs or were forced to quit because the situation became uncomfortable.
"I have had the opportunity to deal with these things in the workplace. I used to work in a Government agency and I remember one week I was sick. I went back to work and when I reached the gate, the whole yard was filled with people. When I came on to the compound, they (other employees) were scampering: who weren't jumping into their cars, were running into their offices. I felt ashamed. I felt unworthy," said Mr. Reid. "... I think people in our communities and our workplaces should not see us as spoils of the nation but as people who can contribute positively to development," he emphasised.
Gleaner Editor-in-Chief Garfield Grandison added: "Every one of us must learn to get over our prejudices and fears. We need to show compassion and friendship to persons living with AIDS. We should encourage our staff to practise safer sex. At the same time we all need to develop business practices that allow persons living with AIDS to enjoy job security and be treated equitable."
BUSINESS LEADERS TURN OUT
Among those attending Monday's breakfast with persons living with HIV/AIDS were Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA) President Doreen Frankson; Beverley Lopez, the president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ); Robert McMillan, the president of the Advertising Agencies Association of Jamaica; Paul Pennicook, the director of tourism; Aubyn Hill, managing partner of Corporate Strategies Ltd.; Winston Dear, immediate past president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce; Earl Jarrett, general manager of the Jamaica National Building Society; Desmond Blades, head of the Musson Group; Maurice Facey of Pan Jamaican Investment, Monica Ladd of Myers, Fletcher and Gordon; Dr. Peter Figueroa of the Ministry of Health and Ruth Janke, the executive director of the National AIDS committee.
Dr. Figueroa feels that the private sector needs to provide more than money to boost the fight against HIV/AIDS in the society. He emphasised that while more money will be welcomed, there was also need for other forms of assistance.
"The business community can help by providing resources directly to various organisations. (However), it's not the money alone. It's also providing organisations with the kind of expertise to help people carry out various functions," he noted.
The business community, he explained, can provide technical expertise to non-governmental organisations, which often face challenges in spending money with the rigorous accountability systems that international donors require. In addition, donor agencies often have strict rules as to how many persons can be hired so business leaders can supplement these needed numbers.
Added Ainsley Reid: "All efforts started by (various organisations) all of them require sustainability. It means not only money but human resources. It means not just your money but your face."
He said that employment opportunities for HIV-positive persons are needed because "we all have jobs but the jobs are shaky. It requires $1,000 or more to pay for medication (HIV-fighting medication on a monthly basis), but with a shaky job, we don't know where treatment stands."
This is so especially because many HIV-positive persons do not have health insurance, he said. "The involvement of the private sector is key. I would really like to see the private sector not only speaking to the issue of AIDS, but making opportunities for HIV-positive people because we are not dead. As you say, we look healthy," Mr. Reid noted.
Ryan (not real name), president of the Jamaica Network of Seropositives (organisation of people living with HIV/AIDS), and Ruth Janke, executive director of the National AIDS Committee, also urged business leaders to assist by ensuring that they implement and enforce HIV policies, including anti-discrimination clauses, in workplaces they operate and by becoming an example to other business leaders.
"Having a policy is one thing but are we really implementing it? Are we making sure that it is working for people, especially as it relates to stigma and discrimination," Ryan said, adding that the policy must also address what should be the attitudes of HIV-negative employees to their HIV positive co-workers.
