|TOP|The Church of Scotland has come out to support the National AIDS Trust’s campaign to raise awareness among employers that it will soon be illegal to discriminate against people living with HIV in the workplace.

The campaign coincides with the World AIDS Day on Thursday 1 December, the same day that the Disability Discrimination Act is to be extended to include HIV from the moment of diagnosis.

The National AIDS Trust and the Church of Scotland are urging employers to have an HIV and AIDS policy in place in order to address issues which might arise, particularly stigma and discrimination.

“HIV and AIDS-related stigma arises mostly from fear and ignorance about the disease,” the Church of Scotland HIV/AIDS Project coordinator, Nigel Pounde. “It may be fuelled by hostility and existing prejudices towards groups most affected.

“It becomes discrimination when people are unfairly treated in the workplace on the basis of their actual or suspected HIV status,” he said.

|QUOTE|The Church of Scotland’s HIV/AIDS Project has produced a resource for churches to use as part of World AIDS Day entitled Becoming HIV Positive, which aims to make churchgoers more aware of the facts and challenges of HIV both in Scotland and throughout the world.

“We want to encourage best practice in congregations around issues of HIV,” said Mr Pounde, who also advised individuals to find out from their own employer whether they have a HIV/AIDS policy.

He also encouraged employees to email their human resources department or ask their trade union or workplace representative to find out if there is a policy in place.

“Effective HIV prevention and care programmes are threatened whenever people are discouraged from getting tested or seeking information on how to protect themselves. That in turn leads to late diagnosis, lessening the effectiveness of treatment,” said Mr Pounde.

He said: “With more people living and working with HIV than ever before in the UK, we all have a responsibility to enable them to be productive and contribute to society. Working together to eliminate stigma and discrimination in the workplace is vital to that goal."