HIV support for migrants workers in South Asia must improve, says UN

Nov 30, 2010, 14:41 GMT

New Delhi - Large numbers of migrant workers in South Asia are HIV positive and support services and treatment for them must be stepped up, a UN report released Tuesday said.

The United Nations Development report - released ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1 - recommends promotion of health services for migrant workers in the region plus their protection from discrimination and even deportation due to their HIV status.

The South Asian region (comprising seven countries, including India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) is home to 2-3.5 million of the estimated 33.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, the study said.

In Bangladesh, 67 per cent of identified HIV-positive cases are returned migrant workers and their spouses. In Nepal, 2007 statistics showed that 41 per cent of reported HIV cases were among migrant workers, the report said.

More than 40 per cent of Sri Lankan women who had tested positive abroad or in the country were, or had been, international migrants.

The region's HIV epidemic was concentrated among vulnerable groups such as injecting drug users, men who have sex with men, and sex workers and their clients, the report said.

'Several million migrant male workers are at risk of infection as they tend to buy sex when they are away from home,' it added.

'While migration itself is not considered a vulnerability factor for HIV infections, the unsafe conditions under which people migrate exposes them to a greater risk of infection,' Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP's country director in India said.

The report said HIV-positive migrant workers often preferred to hide their HIV status fearing exclusion and humiliation when they returned to their home countries.