Trade unionists from Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo called Saturday at the end of a conference in Kinshasa for the establishment of teams to fight AIDS in the workplace. "We urge trade union bodies of the [DRC] and of Congo to set up committees to fight AIDS as well as health insurance schemes within companies to reduce the impact of the disease in the workplace," delegates of the countries' main union federations said. The trade union workshop was sponsored by the International Labor Organization, a specialized UN agency. ILO Regional Director Dayina Mayenga called at the beginning of the conference last Tuesday for solidarity within companies to fight prejudice surrounding the disease. Mayenga, whose brief also covered Rwanda and Burundi, pledged ILO backing for action by workers' leaders in the region, one of the hardest hit by AIDS in Africa. Union leaders urged their governments in Kinshasa and Brazzaville to increase the budget allocations to fight AIDS and asked for ILO help in launching public HIV awareness campaigns.

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