UN seeks to protect healthcare workers against AIDS

Two UN agencies are meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to develop new guidelines for the safety of health care workers busy with the global fight against HIV/AIDS. The joint International Labour Organisation (ILO) and World Health Organisation guidelines will offer specific ways to protect, train and educate workers, while addressing issues such as testing, treatment, confidentiality, occupational risk and prevention. Susan Maybud, an ILO health services specialist, said in a statement: "In the world of work, clear guidelines are among the most effective ways to reduce the transmission of HIV and other blood-borne viruses, and to improve the delivery of care to patients." The ILO also warned that, in the absence of increased antiretroviral treatment, the global healthcare workforce could lose an estimated 28 million staff to AIDS-related illnesses by the end of 2005.