Health Promotion Board Partners Singapore National Employers Federation To Provide Companies With A Practical Three Step Approach For Workplace Prevention And Management Of HIV/AIDS

Singapore, 27 January 2012: The Health Promotion Board (HPB) has partnered the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) to provide HR managers with practical steps to develop and implement workplace prevention and management of HIV/AIDS.

2. These steps form part of the revamped SNEF HIV Workplace Guidelines. First released in 1993, the guidelines are reviewed periodically to ensure they stay timely and relevant.

3. In this latest overhaul, the addition of an easy-to-follow three-tier application aims to strengthen HIV/AIDS education and management at the workplace, while addressing possible stigmatisation by recommending adjustments in HR management and policies.

4. To help companies develop and implement comprehensive and effective HIV/AIDS prevention initiatives, the guidelines are also tiered progressively:

5. “HIV/AIDS is still a topic not widely discussed, and employers who want to support their employees living with HIV/AIDS may not know where to begin. By putting together three tiers of practical and easy-to-comprehend steps in developing and implementing workplace prevention and management of HIV/AIDS, we want to provide companies with a valuable tool they can use to create an enabling work environment progressively,” said Dr Amy Khor, Minister of State for Health and Chairperson of the National HIV Policy Committee.

6. HIV/AIDS remains feared and little understood, with misconceptions revolving around it and its transmission. Educating employees and employers on HIV/AIDS will help reduce fear and discrimination, allowing people living with HIV/AIDS to continue making valuable contributions in their workplaces.

7. There are now almost 4,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Singapore, and about 70 per cent of them are working adults between 30 and 59 years old. While some employers are establishing workplace environments and HR policies that are supportive of those living with HIV/AIDS, more needs to be done to ensure such enabling measures.

8. “The new SNEF HIV Workplace Guidelines promote positive attitudes in place of deterrent measures at the workplace. HPB, in partnership with SNEF, is distributing the set of guidelines to 4,000 companies. To promote its implementation, HPB and SNEF are hosting a lunch for the CEOs of various businesses and industries for the first time, so as to get a commitment from decision-makers at the highest points of leverage,” said Mr Ang Hak Seng, Chief Executive, HPB. “Beyond this, HPB has developed innovative and userfriendly initiatives to destigmatise HIV/AIDS. For instance, we 'bundled' HIV with more general infectious diseases such as the flu and tuberculosis in our Workplace Infectious Disease Education (WIDE) programme. This proved so effective that the reach of our messages on HIV/AIDS issues jumped fourfold, from 7,000 employees in 2010 to 27,000 in 2011.”

9. Other creative outreach programmes to reach out to working adults include workshops held at workplaces and various lunchtime road shows that entertain as well as they educate.

10. HPB also provides interested companies free roving interactive exhibits, collaterals for both the employer and employee, and talks by medical professionals.

11. “Employers, however, continue to play an important role in Singapore in terms of raising awareness and managing employees with HIV/AIDS at workplaces. Hence, the updating of the SNEF Guidelines on managing HIV/AIDs at workplaces is timely. The introduction of the new three-tier approach will also help our employers advance the management of HIV/AIDS at their workplaces more effectively,” said Dr Lim Suet Wun, SNEF Council member and Executive Vice-President of Parkway Group Healthcare Pte Ltd.

12. Private companies who have led the way in creating an enabling work environment include Keppel Shipyard, Keppel offshore & Marine and Standard Chartered Bank, along with public organisations such as the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

13. About 50 other private companies are pledging to start adopting the set of practical applications, taking the first and most important step in creating a productive and nondiscriminatory workplace.

14. “To ensure that our employees receive relevant and correct information on HIV/AIDS, Keppel Shipyard has been working with HPB and the AIDS Business Alliance (ABA) on our Health and Safety Programme, which includes a permanent exhibit at our Safety Training Complex,” said Mr Nelson Yeo, Managing Director, Keppel Shipyard Limited.

15. “Positive HIV/AIDS workplace policies provide the fundamental framework for a company to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and manage its impact. Now that HPB has introduced a set of practical applications for workplace education, HR policies and HR management, I hope the SNEF HIV Workplace Guidelines will pave the way for sustainable HIV/AIDS programmes and policies in workplaces throughout Singapore,” said Mr Zulkifli Bin Baharudin, Chairman, ABA.

16. HPB, in partnership with SNEF, has sought input from ABA, the Ministry of Health and Communicable Disease Centre/Tan Tock Seng Hospital to develop the SNEF HIV Workplace Guidelines, which are benchmarked against international standards.

ANNEX A SNEF HIV WORKPLACE GUIDELINES: APPLICATIONS, KEY MESSAGES AND ACTIONS REQUIRED IN TIERS 1, 2 AND 3.
ANNEX B CASE STUDIES: KEPPEL SHIPYARD AND STANDARD CHARTERED BANK

Issued by Health Promotion Board

Media Release

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