http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=06SOC120408

HCM CITY People with HIV/AIDS are facing difficulties finding jobs and they need compassion from the community, care workers and patients told a seminar in HCM City. "The biggest barrier for us is that the result of a blood test must be included in applications for jobs at many companies," a patient said at the seminar, held this week under the auspices of SmartWork.

SmartWork (SW) is a project carried out by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) with funding from the US Department of Labour to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS at the workplace. Attending the Jobs for People with HIV/AIDS seminar were officials from the city’s Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Department, care workers and over 40 members from HIV/AIDS support groups. "Even if we find jobs, the discrimination and coldness we encounter at the workplace hurts us," the patient said.

Nguyen Thi Nguyet, who has HIV/AIDS, worked at a company for 10 years. She hid her disease after contracting it five years ago. But when she told company managers about her condition last year, they fired her. Nguyet has since started Nang Mai (Morning Sun), an HIV/AIDS support group. Many people with the disease said jobs provided them stable incomes and health insurance. "The burden on our families will be relieved," they explained.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tu, SW project co-ordinator, said workers could conceal their disease. "In some companies, informing employers about their health conditions can bring benefits to workers with HIV/AIDS through policies like a few days’ paid leave each month for medical treatment," she said. The State-owned Viet Tien Textile and Garment Corporation recently found out that one of its workers was an HIV/AIDS carrier. Tu said: "The company gave the patient VND7 million and three months’ paid leave for medical treatment. He was also told that he could resume work when his health improved." "SW will lobby businesses to stop acts of discrimination against HIV/AIDS sufferers," she said. "The project will fund the cost of job training for HIV/AIDS patients and offer them capital to start businesses."

Nguyen Ngoc Thach, head of HCM City’s Social Evils Prevention Office, said his office had asked MoLISA to encourage businesses to offer jobs to people with HIV/AIDS.

The city now has 12 support groups for patients. Ninety per cent of the members of these groups are jobless now, though many were employed before being diagnosed as HIV-positive. Members of Nguyet’s Nang Mai Group make carpets. "We’re happy we can meet and work together," she said. "However, we need capital and support to distribute our products."

According to SW statistics, HCM City has around 37,000 people with HIV, nearly 18,000 of whom have developed full-blown AIDS.