BEST model for HIV positive staff

[Guest guest]

[bEST Stands for- Bombay Electric Supply and Transport Company and

company owned by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. The Predecessor

of BEST, the Bombay Tramway Company Limited was formally set up in

1873. Moderator]

BEST model for HIV positive staff

MUMBAI: Organisations grappling with the problem of discrimination

against employees suffering from AIDS could take a leaf out of the

BEST book.

With nearly 150 of its staffers testing positive for HIV, the

mammoth public utility system is adopting new modes of treatment,

counselling and humane work practices to cope with the problem.

Maharashtra is among the states hardest hit by AIDS: some 23 per

cent of the country's estimated 4.5 million HIV-positive patients

live here. A concerned BEST management is slowly coming to terms

with its liability, in terms of loss of manpower and efficiency.

Ever since BEST announced the ILO-approved HIV/AIDS workplace

intervention policy two years ago for its 43,000-strong workforce,

an increasing number of people have taken part in the voluntary

counselling and testing programme.

Although BEST is tight-lipped about the number of HIV/AIDS-affected

people on its staff, the estimates were obtained by studying the

number of people who are availing of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART)

medicine given free of cost by the organisation.

For HIV patients like Suresh, a 43-year-old senior BEST employee,

the free treatment and counselling programme has provided a new

lease of life.

Suresh was shattered when he tested positive a few months ago, and

had decided to put in his papers and go back to his native village

at Malvan.

But after attending the counselling and treatment programme

initiated by a team of BEST doctors, Suresh has now decided to stay

on. He is back at work and leads a normal healthy life.

BEST officials said the programme initially did not evoke a good

response as employees feared being identified as HIV-positive, but

soon they came around to realise that they could lead a healthier

life if they knew what was in store for them.

" We tell them that their HIV status will remain confidential and at

no point of time will it be revealed to anyone. They are allowed to

function and work like any normal person in the organisation, " said

Omprakash Ahuja, chief medical officer, BEST.

BEST has also given fully paid medical leave up to six months one-

time for full-blown AIDS patients. This is done in order to help

them recover from debilitating infections, which they become

susceptible to on account of weaknesses in the immunity system.

" In many cases, patients are referred to municipal hospitals to

recover from tuberculosis or other immuno deficient diseases, " said

Ahuja.

The mode of treatment includes counselling family members of

patients. Health workers often visit the employee's residential

quarters and meet the kin to provide emotional support and guidance.

" In all cases, strict confidentiality is maintained, " said Dr Anjana

Palve, project co-ordinator at Mumbai Aids Control society (MDACS).

The state-funded MDACS has targeted 25 BEST bus depots to conduct

HIV counselling programmes for conductors, bus drivers and

mechanics.

" They have a peer leader who is usually a very caring person amongst

the group. The victim finds it easy to confide in him about the

disease, " said Palve.

Patients like Suresh can also take comfort from the fact even if

they succumb to the disease, the BEST now has a policy that ensures

a job for their spouses.

" Also during their tenure, there will be no discrimination for

promotions or unequal treatment just because they are HIV positive, "

said Ahuja

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