Corporates question norms for HIV testing

Top corporates have questioned the government and WHO norms on HIV testing of workers. While the norms say informed consent is a must, corporates want full freedom to test their workers. Some even say they have been testing workers on the sly.

Reliance Industries Limited, which has a huge HIV centre in Surat, raised the issue at a seminar organised by the CII today. Experts from National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) and ILO, who were in attendance, said this was a violation of workers' rights.

The corporates said screening meant they could start therapy in early stages of the infection.

Chief Medical Officer, RIL, Dr Ashok Mewara, who was a panelist at the seminar, said the policy model provided by the CII and ILO was flawed as it insisted on tests only with the consent of workers. Informed consent would never come, he added.

Mewara said RIL's Surat centre had 1,230 patients, out of which 400 were on anti-retroviral therapy (ART). Ten per cent were on second-line drugs.

Mewara found support from DCM Sriram's representative Col PC Bhan. "There are intelligent ways of voluntary detection," he said.

"Around 3,000 out of our 5,000 workers have taken part in the blood donation camps that we have been organising. Blood banks give us the reports," he said.

NACO's Additional Project Director Jyotna Sokhey said the tests might show false positives. "A corporate HIV policy should not focus on positive personnel, or your policy won't work," she said.

Tata Steel, which too has an HIV policy and offers other linked services advocated a more moderate pro-choice method of linking workers to government testing facilities rather than snooping on their health details.

Yashashri Gurjar, chief general manager of Ballarpur Industries, said her company provided testing services with the consent of workers. She said out of 100 people tested, eight were found positive.

The clamour for routine testing is supported by the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, of which the CII is a partner.

According to CII Social Development Initiative head Shefali Chaturvedi, Richard Holbrooke, the chairman of the coalition, wanted routine testing of workers. "But the CII does not subscribe to this," she added.

ILO national project coordinator Mohammad Afzal said ILO guided firms towards a human rights approach towards HIV and ruled out tests without informed consent. "There is no guarantee that detection will not lead to discrimination," he added.