'Don't demand AIDS test from employees'

A lecturer at the School of Public Health of the University of Ghana, Legon, Dr Phylis Antwi, has stated that it is wrong for employers to demand that would-be employees should undergo HIV/AIDS test before they are engaged, reports The Daily Graphic.

"Under no circumstance should an employer demand an HIV/AIDS test before signing on an applicant and no employer should demand an AIDS test to be conducted on an employee", she said. Dr Antwi said the Constitution protects the rights of all people including those living with the virus. She was speaking on "Civil Service and the Golden Age: Combating HIV/AIDS, the role of the workplace", as part of activities marking the launch of the Seventh Africa Day of Administration and Civil Service in Accra.

Dr Antwi said there is a need for a co-ordinated approach to carrying out HIV/AIDS prevention activities by developing workplace policies to conform to the national policies on the disease.