New report calls for wider social protection net to include HIV patients HIV patients with access to social protection are more likely to have jobs or be involved in some productive activity. But majority of the vulnerable sections do not have access to social protection programmes, says a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) Access to and effects of social protection on workers living with HIV and their households draws its conclusions from research conducted in Guatemala, Indonesia, Rwanda and Ukraine.

The four countries are in the UNAIDS list of high HIV impact countries and are currently developing their social security systems. The report suggests that social protection programmes can reduce the structural barriers that make people vulnerable to HIV. In the studied countries, between 63 per cent and 95 per cent of HIV partients with access to social protection were able to keep their jobs or some form of productive activity. At the same time, 49 per cent to 99 per cent said that their children remained in school and 72 per cent to 86 per cent were able to access life-saving antiretroviral treatment.

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