UAE prepares draft law to end HIV/AIDS discrimination

A draft law is being prepared to make it illegal for employers to discriminate against people with HIV/Aids in the UAE, particularly in the area of employment, UAE daily The National reported on Monday.

Dr Nada al Marzouqi, head of the National Aids Programme, said the proposal would be sent to the Federal National Council for consideration before the end of this year, the paper said.

The proposal is part of an effort by the Government to bring the subject of Aids into the open and remove the stigma that still surrounds the disease and its victims, it said.

There are no laws protecting the rights of a UAE national with the disease and all expatriate workers must be tested for HIV/Aids before they can be granted residency visas. Those who test positive must return to their home countries.

UAE nationals starting new jobs also have to undergo medical examination.

At the same time, however, there is no requirement for tourists visiting the UAE to take a test, and with the country now a major tourism destination, the potential for the disease spreading has increased, the paper said.

The UAE has been criticised by UN officials and campaign groups for having HIV/Aids policies which, it was claimed, violate human rights.

Most recently, the Government was criticised for not honouring its commitments to the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/Aids, for failing to submit data to the UNAIDS 2008 Report on the Global Aids Epidemic.

Dr Marzouqi said experts had examined various situations in which patients may be discriminated against, but that employment was the biggest problem area.

She said she has heard of cases of employers refusing to offer jobs to applicants because they had HIV.

"The employer will not say, 'It is because of your condition', they will say it is because of something else," the paper quoted her as saying. 

The paper quoted Dr Khaled Alloush, the UN Development Programme resident representative, as saying that anything that increases education about Aids will help.

Once the proposal is drafted, it will be passed to the FNC to be made law. No likely timetable for legislation following submission to the Federal National Council was mentioned.

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