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Published on March 1, 2008

"The Social Security Office pays for their treatment and drugs," Uraiwan said.

The Public Health Ministry is currently reviewing the compulsory licensing of several life-saving drugs for HIV/Aids and cancer that was enforced by the previous government in order to make affordable, generic versions available.

According to Uraiwan, about 15,000 employees covered by the social security scheme are living with HIV/Aids. They make up just 3 per cent of the 500,000 HIV/Aids patients in the country.

SSO secretary-general Surin Jirawisit said his office spent Bt625 million on treatment for HIV-infected employees last year.

The social security scheme covers 9 million employees.

Uraiwan and Surin were attending a ceremony at the Labour Ministry to extend a project on prevention and management of HIV/Aids and tuberculosis in the workplace.

The project educates employees on how to protect themselves from HIV/Aids and tuberculosis. Many HIV/Aids patients contract TB at some point.

Launched five years ago, the project now involves more than 5,000 factories.

"We expect that some 5,000 more factories will join during the next five years. That will mean we can cover 2 million employees," Uraiwan said.

The Nation