GENEVA, Switzerland, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- More than 3 million people around the world are unable to work because of AIDS-related illness, the United Nations said Friday.
The U.N. International Labor Organization report, released to coincide with World AIDS Day, found that almost 25 million paid workers live with HIV and AIDS, and another 11 million people with the disease do unpaid work, such as working in the home.
The situation is worse in sub-Saharan Africa, which was home to three-quarters of the 3 million people who could not work last year because of AIDS, according to the report.
HIV and AIDS are also costing jobs around the world, because they stifle economic growth, the report says. The result is an annual net loss of 1.3 million jobs worldwide.
Some of this economic damage can be avoided, however, if anti-retroviral treatment reaches all those who need it, the report concluded.
"The prospect of averting between one-fifth and one-quarter of potential new losses to the labor force should serve as a powerful incentive to target the workplace as a major entry point to achieve universal access to (AIDS drugs)," the report said.
