POLICIES AND HEALTH

BY B.C.M
 General Objective:

At the end of the lecture/discussion,

students should be able to describe
different health policies.
 Specific Objectives:

 At the end of the lecture/discussion,

students should be able to: Define what
a policy is: Explain components of the
following types of health policies:
 Gender Policy
 HIV/AIDS work-place Policy
 Definition

 A policy is a broad guideline or

framework that describes how the
organization should carry out operations
to meet its goals and objectives. It is basis
for decision making.
 1 Gender Policy

 -Gender policy encourages the

empowerment of females by according
them equal opportunities to services as
men.
 It has acknowledged the fact that
women traditionally were placed lower
than men
 1 Gender Policy (cont...)

Gender does not mean:

-Focusing on women’s position
only.
In some instances men may be
disadvantaged rather than women
 Gender Policy (cont...)

Fighting for equality between men

and women
Blaming the opposite sex for
inequality.
 Gender Policy (cont...)

Gender violence: Includes

emotional and physical abuse
mainly against women.
 Gender Policy (cont...)

Domestic violence is a pattern of

behaviour that generally starts with
tension and intimidation in the
couple’s relationship and
progresses to physical assault with
injury to the woman and sometimes
the children
 Gender Policy (cont...)

It is a common cause of mental ill

health and often results in serious
harm or death of the afflicted
It is the most common type of
abuse seen in the health care
setting.
 Gender Policy (cont...)

Sexual harassment
 Sexual harassment is defined as any
unwanted or unwelcome behaviour of a
sexual nature that is offensive to the
subject of the harassment and causes that
person to feel threatened, humiliated or
embarrassed
 Risk factors (cont…)

Increased use of alcohol or illicit drugs

Cultural values that glamorize violence
Unemployment
Poverty and
Homelessness
 Prevention of gender violence:

Rehabilitation programmes for

perpetrators
Campaigns to raise awareness
 2. HIV and AIDS Policy

This is a written document that

acknowledges the effects of HIV
and other related illnesses on the
smooth operation of a company.
 HIV and AIDS Policy (cont…)

 Since HIV/AIDS has been recognised as a

workplace health concern, more and more
companies in Zambia are formulating
HIV/AIDS Workplace Policies that address the
many issues surrounding HIV/AIDS.
 Checklist

 Mywage Zambia has compiled a simple

checklist to help you understand your
HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy.
• Non-discrimination
 No employer, employees or workers’
representatives should discriminate
against employees with HIV.
 Checklist

They have equal rights to human dignity

and must therefore not be discriminated
against.
Confidentiality
No employee must be subjected to
disclosure of their HIV status at any point.
 Checklist (cont…)

 Any employer who discloses the HIV

status of his or her workers has
breached confidentiality
 and may face any agreed action that
might include termination of
employment.
 Checklist (cont…)

 Voluntary HIV Testing

 Employers will under no circumstances
subject their employees to mandatory or
involuntary HIV testing.
 Routine HIV testing can only be conducted if
it is part of the agreed HIV/AIDS Workplace
Policy.
 Checklist (cont…)

 Safe Working Environment

 Every employer must ensure that
employees operate in a safe working
environment with minimal possibilities of
contracting HIV at their places of work.
 No employee should contract HIV as a
result of a poor or unsafe working
environment.
 Checklist (cont…)

 Awareness and Sensitisation

 As a way of mitigating the spread of HIV
in places of work
 Employers must ensure that they provide
accurate information on the dangers of
HIV, the benefits of abstinence, being
faithful to one partner and consistent
condom use (or ABC for short).
 Access to Treatment
 Employees that are diagnosed with HIV can be
productive given proper, support, care and
treatment.
 It is therefore the duty of an employer to
ensure that workers that have been tested
HIV positive are given the right treatment and
care.
 SUMMARY

 We have discussed different types of policies that are

associated to health. Firstly the Gender policy which
encourages the empowerment of females by
according them equal opportunities to services as
men.
Secondly,
 SUMMARY (cont…)

 The HIV and AIDS Workplace policy is built on

a foundation that includes the right to
accurate information, employment benefits,
freedom of association, equality and human
dignity.
 Furthermore, it is a tool for addressing the
stigma and discrimination associated with HIV
or AIDS.
Thank you for
your attention!!