Aids group steps up efforts to combat discrimination

The Swiss Aids Federation is stepping up efforts to combat discrimination against people with Aids or HIV. The non-governmental organisation said many employers and insurance companies are reluctant to accept Aids sufferers.

Launching the campaign on Tuesday, the Federation said it was setting up a special office to deal with legal issues and to lobby the authorities and insurance companies.

It has also hired a legal expert to fight inequalities in the law and to deal with the authorities and insurance companies.

A spokesman said one of the key tasks is to determine where discrimination is worst, and to devise possible solutions. A booklet has been published to advise those interested in legal issues.

The Federation said people with HIV or Aids were most discriminated against when applying for jobs. It said the lack of data protection was partly to blame.

It added that there were cases were people had been excluded from certain insurance cover because of their medical condition.

The Federation said much progress had been made in the past few years to improve the health of Aids patients. New medication is available and hard drug addicts, one of the key risk groups, can join a special health programme.

There are 20,000 people in Switzerland who are HIV positive or who have Aids.

swissinfo with agencies