Experts have charged owners of organisations and employers of labour to prioritise Human Immunodeficiency (HIV) and mental health checks among employees. They said it’s imperative to remove the stigma of both illnesses at workplaces for effective productivity of employees, which also adds to the Gross Domestic Product of any economy.

 

They made this known at a roundtable discussion organised by Medbury Medical Services in conjunction with Nigerian Business Coalition Against Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (NiBUCAA), themed, Prioritising HIV and Mental Health in the Workplace”.

  

Consultant Psychiatrist and Employee Assistant Professional expert, Oluseun Peter Ogunubi, said while a lot is being done to bring HIV to the fore and remove the stigma surrounding it, employers should help in ending such in the work place. He also said mental health has been left out, as there is little advocacy and awareness about the illness, especially at the work place.

 

“Emotional issues have gone beyond wearing tattered clothes, roaming about the streets. Emotional issues like depression, addiction, poor concentration and memory, anxiety, phobia are things employees go through. There is need for employers to ensure they don’t drive their employees to that level where they will be over-stressed and burnout. Once burnout occurs, every other mental illness that you can think of follows.

 

On his part, Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Medical Service, Musa Shaibu said picking HIV and mental health at the work places is apt because these areas of illnesses are not given pride of place in discussions. Shaibu, who is also the Chairman, Executive Committee, NiBUCAA, noted that HIV/AIDS is at a very dangerous situation today, which has been controlled to a low level by a drop in the percentage of affected persons in the country by the agency.