Nowadays there are approximately between 120.000 and 150.000 people which are diagnosed HIV-positive. From this number of people, it is estimated that a 25% is, at this point, unemployed.
After the year 2000, the percentage of unemployment in HIV-positive people decreased until a 15% in 2007. From that point till today, the average has increased possibly due to the economic crisis.
People tested HIV-positive suffer discrimination in their daily lives, more specifically in their jobs. It has been studied that a 30% of workers would feel uncomfortable working with a person who is suffering from aids.
It is believed that these high percentages are due to a lack of information. People often believe that a person which is diagnosed aids has a lower capacity of work than a completely sane person. This is totally untrue, as nowadays there are an 80% of HIV-positives that are fully integrated in their work and are capable of doing their work as well as a sane person. This is the reason why we have to fight against this discrimination, in order to decrease the percentages of unemployment in these patients.
What do you think about the percentages of unemployment in HIV-positive people? What is your opinion about this type of discrimination? Can you think of any idea to decrease the discrimination these people suffer from in their jobs?
Ana Las Hayas
I would like to express my personal opinion towards this subject despite it is quite delicate and therefore not easy to handle due to the wide range of opinions.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I would like to say that I’m very glad that the percentage of unemployed people with HIV-positive has decreased during the last 12 years, as they should be treated the same way as more fortunate people.
On the other hand I also understand the discrimination that there is, as to be sincere, I wouldn’t like someone accidentally infecting me the virus because, whether you accept it or not, there’s always that possibility. However, as this is quite unlikely to happen, people should treat them the same way. Moreover, I consider HVI-positive infected people should have the same rights to have a decent job as healthier person does because they are as capable as everyone else.
In conclusion, I think that this discrimination should end as quickly as possible so that this group of people don’t have to suffer more than what they already do for their own health. Just imagine having to put up with this gossip going on about it in your work day after day. To decrease this discrimination primarily they patient should tell his/her companions his disease and also tell them to emphasize with him. In theory, this would make them think about how hard it is to be in the patient’s situation and so they wouldn’t make any offensive comment about it.
Nicole Pattje
To start with, I would like to emphasise in the fact that no one in this world, no matter what they’ve done or are, should be discriminated by society and defiantly lose or not been given a job because they are ill and people are afraid of being infected by them.
ReplyDeleteIt is understandable that people are scared by the effects of this disease and are afraid of being infected, but I think, as Ana said, that one of the main problems which we have to solve is that people are badly informed about it.
For an instance, put yourself in someone with Aids shoes, think of the moral responsibility that involves having it and knowing that you can always transmitted to others, you realize the decreases in liberty they have; this virus really conditions their life. In addition, Aids poses to our society two main problems which now our days they have no solution: the fact that there is no possible cure of it and it is inevitable to think of the possibility of dying when you are infected by it, although we all know that many people leave perfectly with medication. Secondly we have the limitations of science and technology that have no effective answer for its cure.
As a conclusion, this social exclusion is evident and these people have to suffer it daily for the rest of their lives, as if they were leper people in the ancient times. And like I said before, those who work, live with them or know people with Aids, should try to understand what their lives have turned out to be after knowing that they are infected and having to tell it publicly.
Marina Segura
I would like to start off by saying that I believe that any kind of discrimination is wrong, and usually it is fruit of the misconceptions and ignorance of the transgressors. People shouldn't act before being correctly informed, as this results in the suffering of other people.
ReplyDeleteFirstly,a person suffering from a serious illness like HIV or AIDS is already in a delicate psychological state and they certainly don't need more to deal with. I can understand that people are slightly wary of them, but they need to understand that just by being near someone with AIDS you will not get it.
To stop this problem, we need to inform the masses about these diseases, because the fact is there is a lot of people who are suffering, and an end has to be put to this.
The sad thing is, even if people are misinformed, they should still be able to empathize with these people who have been diagnosed with and incurable disease. If anything, we should go out of our way to make their lives easier instead of making it harder for them.
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the post and the actual comments I feel like I have quite a bit to say, so I will try to be concise and to the point:
Jai, Nicole and Marina, empathy is a skill that few posses and on the contrary, many people lack. In a world dominated by individualism and survival, many people couldn't care less if you get offended for stating the obvious or getting their message across by being rude. As a general law, people want protection and live by it. When that need is not being met, why should they allow it? And so they will respond in a negative way. To summarize, someone who thinks their health is in danger will automatically behave rudely towards people with HIV or AIDS for example. I am not saying this is good, but it is the truth.
Yes, something should be done to stop this as and as you have effectively said, it is absolute discrimination. So, how can we put and end to such a problem?
Well, interaction between HIV patients and people that don't suffer the disease should be compulsory from a young age. Moreover, information on the subject is required and surprisingly enough, it is required through a wide range of ages. There are still people that think that HIV can be transmitted just by touching an affected person's hand. If you ask me, a pretty daft idea present due to lack of knowledge.
In conclusion, people with AIDS have the right to live in a society and a world that treats them just the same as people without HIV. This is extremely important and since most people without AIDS won't achieve this throughout their emotional intelligence, it should be obtained by proactive organizations and conferences, therefore being taught and applied in a practical way.
Agreeing with most of the above comments, I also believe any kind of discrimination, be it because of someone’s skin color, physical appearance, place of birth or, such as this example, suffering from a disease, has absolutely no rational explanation behind it and is therefore, plain stupid.
ReplyDeleteI also consider discrimination is the result of a poor and weak comprehension of the subject matter, being the spread of information and education the prime and only ways to end with it.
However, I don’t agree with some things Alexia said. Psychopathy is the personality disorder a human being suffers from if they lack empathy, and, as far as I’m concerned, our society is not packed with psychopaths. So this can only mean, the vast majority of us, do posses empathy, which, disagreeing once again, is not a skill, but a capacity.
I do agree with the fact that our society is competitive; however, this does not imply that, “the world is dominated by individualism and survival”, because if we were, as you state, individualists, why would we have developed such complex social organizations, why would we live in societies? because we aren’t individualists, we can’t live independently, separate from each other, we need one another in order to survive.
Referring now to the actual post, I think we are missing crucial information, we need to be able to compare this data with unemployment percentages of non carriers of HIV positive to be able to tell if it is really due to their condition or if non carriers also follow the same ratio.
Lucas Drobnitzky
I totally agree with this post. Anyone should be discriminated, either by their diseases, sexual orientation, or even when they come from. This just acts negatively in our society as we are making this people suffer because the society rejects them.
ReplyDeleteHowever we've been getting better in what labour discrimiation refers because the government has made laws against it and because the people, little by little, is beggining to accept them.
Besides i'm sure that a lot of people are still discriminating and this is really worrying.
Álvaro Fuertes
First of all I wanted to say that I agree with all of the comments above, and when I read the post I was shocked. How can people treat these people this way? I personally think it is and incredibly high percentage and that it should definitely decrease.
ReplyDeleteBasically because we live in the 20th century! We have to start tolerating other people and avoid discrimination because of the illnesses they may suffer; we are all equal despite the problems and unfortunate experiences we have to live through our lives.
As well as that I think people have to start acting in front of these situations, and show others that people with HIV positive, are perfectly capable to work, employers fire these people because of their fear, they are afraid to get infected and they do the most coward act, and the easiest thing that is, dismiss these people.
However, I think they act this way because they haven’t been taught correctly, they haven’t been informed about this illness, and that’s why I think that the best solution is to teach employers, about this illness and these people, and explain to them the risks and how to act in order to remove this fear away from them so they stop worrying so much about it.
Carla Lombardo
I agree with everything that is being said but Lucas (no offense, this is just homework) even though we live in society and need each other, people are selfish and therefore individualist. People would much rather be in comfort themselves (at whatever cost) than give that comfort to someone else, ultimately someone who needs it more. It is true that mankind has created an incredibly complex society but that does not mean that people rely or help each other more. On the contrary, due to technology for example, people tend to act independently, so I disagree with you when you say that everyone depends on everyone else. We have developed societies because man needs rules, guidance and security. These needs have nothing to do with the way man really is that is to say, selfish and corrupt.
ReplyDeleteAs to the empathy part, I completely agree with you that empathy is a capacity and not a skill but that does not mean that the absence of this capacity is an illness or a disorder. People that have no empathy are people like you and I and they are just like everyone else. The only difference is that they can't position themselves in ones shoes. But is that really a disorder?
Other than this, I agree with the things written on your comment and as you have stated, think that we are missing vital information.