World AIDS Day 2005
"Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise"
1st December, 2005

The link between HIV/AIDS, stigma and discrimination bears heavily on people affected by the pandemic. Human rights are a powerful tool to transcend taboo, denial and stigma.

WHO is committed to addressing human rights issues associated with HIV/AIDS. Current activities include work on HIV/AIDS-related discrimination in the health system and the development of a cartoon targeting adolescents and the general public which addresses the issue of HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination.

Standard Chartered launches global HIV/AIDS programme

In time to mark World AIDS Day on December 1, 2002, Standard Chartered has announced that its staff health education campaign known as "Living with HIV" will be rolled out globally to all 28,000 employees in 54 countries by December 1, 2003.

The "Living with HIV" programme follows the success of the "Staying Alive" Campaign that was launched in 2000 in all 13 of the African countries in which the bank operates. About 5,600 staff were trained and in a number of countries the bank extended the awareness programme externally to families and communities. In recognition of its Staying Alive education programme, the bank received the Edelman Health AIDS and Employment Award from European Union in 2000. In November 2001, the bank received a Commonwealth Award for outstanding work on advocacy and education regarding HIV and AIDS.

Speaking about the commitment, the Bank's Chairman, Sir Patrick Gillam, said, "The HIV pandemic directly threatens the security and prosperity not only of the highly affected countries, but our global society. As one of the world's most international companies we have a role to play in creating awareness of HIV/AIDS. We believe that an educational programme for our people and communities is the right thing to do and it forms a core part of our community programme.

"The Standard Chartered "Living with HIV" campaign is a peer education programme aimed at informing employees about the facts of HIV/AIDS, how it spreads, how it can prevented and how to care for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Local employee champions who are culturally sensitive implementthe programme. The programme is easy to implement and adapt to various communities. "Business has a key role to play in fighting this disease. We are taking responsibility for educating our staff on the facts about HIV/AIDS. We believed the knowledge imparted will go a long way in saving the lives of many people who work for us and come into contact with us," said Mr Mervyn Davies, Group Chief Executive."

© Copyright and Fair Use
SDNP Bangladesh holds the © copyright to its publications and web pages
but encourages duplication of these materials for noncommercial
purposes. Proper citation is required.
Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP)
E-17 Agargaon, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh.
 Email: info@sdnbd.org