Education for HIV/AIDS prevention at work in the Russian North

MURMANSK - Olga Bogdanova from the ILO Moscow office spoke with Vladimir Kostrov, Executive Secretary of the Interagency Commission on Counteracting Drug Abuse and the Illegal Drug Trade; Viktor Zubov, Deputy Director-General of Murmansk Commercial Seaport Company; Yurii Savakov, Deputy Director of the Murmansk Oblast Trade Union Council; and Stanislav Zenov, the project's Regional Coordinator.

1) What HIV/AIDS programmes are now under way in Murmansk Oblast?

Vladimir Kostrov: One is being run by the Oblast Center for Preventing and Combating AIDS. Another, the SOS programme, is a set of measures against drug addiction among young people, and has been under way since 1998. Later, a separate programme emerged that foresees centralized financing of all HIV/AIDS-related activities at the regional level. With regard to the ILO project, I would not even try to compare it with our traditional HIV programmes. We are talking here about preventing disease in the workplace, about preventing stigmatization and discrimination against people living with HIV. The ILO initiative is extraordinarily important and timely. The results from the project will certainly be taken into account and widely used in future municipal and regional programmes.

2) Does anyone in the region have experience in working with enterprises on HIV prevention?

Vladimir Kostrov: Of course. The Murmansk City Center for Preventing and Combating AIDS used to work with the fishing industry and fleets in the area. This was the time when sailors constituted a special group of HIV-positive people here. In the late '90s, programmes focused on drug users, and the aspect of prevention in the workplace virtually ceased to exist.

3) Will the ILO project for HIV/AIDS Education in the Workplace be more effective than earlier programmes in the region?

Vladimir Kostrov: I do not think we can compare the two; they are completely different. The earlier programmes involved a traditional and somewhat conservative approach. The ILO educational project is a state-of-the-art product based on the latest methodologies. Right now, we are preparing a survey for the employees in the companies concerned to see how informed they really are. Later, results from our research will be examined by a regional advisory council. Together with ILO experts, we will determine the content of information booklets and posters, and decide what should be stressed during meetings and discussions with employees.

4) Your company, which plays a huge role in the economy not just of the region but the country as a whole, is taking part in the project for HIV/AIDS Education in the Workplace. How serious is this problem inside your commercial port?

Viktor Zubov: The port's management does not consider HIV to be an urgent problem. Don't look so surprised! You see, so few of us are HIV-positive today that we're deliberately making no effort to elevate this epidemic to the status of 'a problem'. In fact, I don't think we have any one living with HIV/AIDS at all.

5) Why are you taking part in this project, then?

Viktor Zubov: We don't want HIV/AIDS one day to come knocking at our own door. We want our employees to be informed. We have some very good people working here, and we highly value their lives and health. Meanwhile, a new and promising generation of workers is growing up.

6) Do you have a standard personnel policy with regard to those infected with HIV/AIDS?

Viktor Zubov: No. Our basic position is that we do not require the port's employees to be checked by a medical commission or to undergo tests. Nor do we ask for a medical certificate confirming that they are not HIV-positive when we hire them. We want those living with HIV to be comfortable here, since they are ordinary people in a difficult situation.

7) Mr. Savakov, do you share Mr. Zubov's point of view?

Yurii Savakov: To us, it is perfectly obvious that sick workers frequently experience different forms of discrimination, both from company management and from their co-workers. Officially, we did not receive such complaints. However, I personally know of HIV-positive workers who were forced to quit "by their own will". Although such cases are isolated, they do happen, and it alarms me. The unions have been seriously concerned for several years now about the speed with which the epidemic is growing.

8) What should be a company's human resource policy in the face of HIV/AIDS?

Yurii Savakov: Compulsory testing of employees should be banned altogether, and voluntary testing should be encouraged. If it should become known that a worker is living with HIV/AIDS, it is everyone's task to help him. There should be no discrimination at all.

9) Why, in addition to Moscow Oblast, did the ILO focus on your region in the North?

Stanislav Zenov: As far as I know, ILO representatives consult with their social partners before selecting one region or another for a pilot project. Murmansk Oblast is a constituency of the Russian Federation that is successfully realizing the spirit and the letter of social partnership. I think this was important for the decision.

10) What difficulties have you already encountered?

Stanislav Zenov: There have been practically no difficulties, which is somewhat surprising. Maybe employers were more skeptical about the project. Happily, my fears proved unfounded. I was struck by how readily management and union activists responded to the ILO initiative. The Regional Advisory Council is now up and operating. A group of experts is working in consultation with the Advisory Board. The next major step will be to conduct research in the participating firms. So it will become clear how well-informed workers are on the problems associated with the spread of HIV.

11) What results do you expect?

Stanislav Zenov: Based on the survey results, we will be able to start practical work in the pilot enterprises. The most important thing is to equip people with knowledge. If you are warned, then you are protected.