The Editor, Sir:

Testing employees for the human immunodefiency virus (HIV) is a human rights issue and should not be permitted. Refusing to employ a person with HIV/AIDS is a form of discrimination and denies a person the right to earn an honest living and the ability to manage the disease.

It was not so long ago in Jamaica that people confined to wheelchairs could not use the buses (no such service existed then to accommodate them), or work in our office buildings (they were not wheelchair accessible). We should get used to living and working with HIV/AIDS victims and find ways to integrate them into our society and not marginalise them. Let's get rid of the leper syndrome. If HIV/AIDS victims are made to feel good about themselves, they are more likely to venture out of the shadow to seek help.

Testing campaign

Jamaica should launch a nationwide testing campaign for HIV/AIDS, much the same way we had the literacy programmes in the '70s. All testing should be done free of charge by the Ministry of Health. HIV/AIDS is a national issue and all responsibility for testing should be done through the Health Ministry using private or public facilities. This would inspire more confidence and more people would be encouraged to get themselves tested. Giving employers the right to test employees for HIV only serves to push victims farther underground and will not help the national strategy to tackle HIV/AIDS in Jamaica.

I would support legislation to make it a criminal offence for any person with HIV/AIDS to have sexual contact with other persons without first declaring his or her HIV/AIDS status. Let's educate and communicate and not discriminate against people with HIV/AIDS.

I am, etc.,

FITZ BROWN

Ottawa, Canada

fitz61@sympatico.ca

Via Go-Jamaica