Health officials say most of the Sri Lankan work places haven’t implemented HIV / AIDS preventive programs thus causing a danger.

Invisibility of the decease and to a certain extent the associated stigma and discrimination are cited as the reasons for the lack of preventive programs in the work place.

As of end 2009, there were 4000 people living with HIV in the country and out of that 1196 cases have been reported to the national STD/AIDS control program.

The majority of those infected are among the 25 – 49 year age group which the health officials say constitute the productive age group of the country.

A draft which is now under discussion towards formulating a National Policy on HIV / AIDS in the “world of work” points out that Sri Lanka has around 7.6 million men and women working in the formal and informal sectors.

It adds this workforce constitute a large group of people in the reproductive age group who are sexually active.

Therefore Health Authorities urge work places to implement HIV / AIDS preventive programs by introducing voluntary counseling and testing, antiretroviral treatment, initiating work place policies, prevention and treatment care programs etc.

As of now workers only have limited access to basic knowledge on HIV/AIDS.

Despite the above danger Sri Lanka is classified as a country with low level of HIV epidemic in the South East Asian region and the country’s HIV prevalence is below 1%.

However officials warn that there are certain demographic, socio-economic and behavioral factors which may fuel an epidemic.

They say female sex workers and their clients, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users are identified as the most at risk populations in the country.

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