The Impact of HIV and AIDS on the World of Work: Global Estimates

In addition to human suffering, HIV and AIDS cause billions of dollars in lost earnings, largely as a result of the deaths of hundreds of thousands of workers that could be prevented with treatment, the ILO said in a report launched today. 

Lost earnings attributable to AIDS – as a result of death or inability to work – show a substantial decline from 2005, when they totalled almost $17 billion, but are still projected to amount to $7.2 billion in 2020. 

This report prepared in collaboration with UNAIDS, examines how the evolution of the HIV epidemic and the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) have impacted the global labour force and how it is projected to do so in the future, and assesses the economic and social impacts of HIV on workers and their households. 

The report shows that labour force deaths attributed to HIV and AIDS are projected to fall to 425,000 in 2020, from 1.3 million in 2005. The greatest incidence of mortality is among workers in their late 30s. “This is the age workers are normally at the peak of their productive life. These deaths are totally avoidable if treatment is scaled up and fast tracked,” said Guy Ryder, the ILO Director-General.