Research by the National Aids Trust has revealed that almost half of UK workers would expect to be told if a colleague was HIV positive. But why? Apart from fact the law states that people do not have to disclose their HIV, what business is it of those who work with them? Perhaps more worrying though is the large number of people questioned who stated at least one incorrect way in which HIV is transmitted. HIV and Aids have been widely known about since the early 1980s – almost 30 years. Where have all these misinformed workers been? On a desert island?
Maybe I'm just being naive, but I was under the impression that most people of working age in the UK would know that HIV cannot be transmitted through normal work or social contact. But this is clearly not the case, and more obviously needs to be done to educate people on the subject. Whether that is a job for employers or educators is not for me to say. But what I do know is that employers have a duty to all their staff to ensure they are not discriminated against and that their privacy is respected.
