AIDS
- Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
ART
- Antiretroviral therapy
CD4
- Cluster of differentiation 4
CI
- Confidence Interval
GG
- Guideline Group
GHWA
- Global Health Workforce Alliance
HW
- Health worker
HCW
- Healthcare worker
HIV
- Human immunodeficiency virus
H&S
- Health and Safety
ICN
- International Council of Nurses
ILO
- International Labour Organization
IOM
- International Organization for Migration
IPT
- Isoniazid preventative therapy
LMIC
- Low and middle income countries
LTBI
- Latent tuberculosis infection
OHS
- Occupational Health and Safety
PPE
- Post Exposure Prophylaxis
PPE
- Positive Practice Environment Campaign
PSI
- Public Service International
TB
- Tuberculosis
UNDHR
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
VCT
- Voluntary counselling and testing
WHO
- World Health Organization
WHP
- Workplace Health Promotion
Selected Definitions and Explanation of Key Terms as Used in these Guidelines:
- Providing "priority access" is defined in these guidelines as providing infrastructure as well as policies and programmes that enable health workers to obtain prevention, treatment and care services ahead of the general public who are not health workers. Priority access implies access by policy not simply practice. This access does not necessarily imply priority access ahead of other groups who have already been designated for priority access (e.g. pregnant women), but does imply that health workers should have access that does not require them to wait in the queue with the population at large, and is convenient, accessible, free, confidential, gender-sensitive and non-stigmatizing.
- There is no widely accepted definition of "family". These guidelines consider " family" as consisting of "dependents and/or partners". The. ILO code of practice on HIV and the World of Work states: 'in light of the nature of the epidemic, employee assistance programmes may need to be established or extended appropriately to include a range of services for workers as members of families, and to support their family members. This should be done in consultation with workers and their representatives, and can be done in collaboration with government and other relevant stakeholders in accordance with resources and needs.' (section 9.8.) Definitions of "dependents" and "partners" are presented in these Guidelines, but Implementation plans on a regional or country level will be expected to be more explicit with respect to provision of services to families, taking local culture and context into consideration.
- With respect to the definition of "health workers", the Guideline Group (GG) cites the WHO Fact Sheet #302. April 2006. "Health workers are all people whose main activities are aimed at enhancing health. They include the people who provide health services -- such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians -- and management and support workers such as financial officers, cooks, drivers and cleaners. Worldwide, there are 59.8 million health workers. About two-thirds of them (39.5 million) provide health services; the other one-third (19.8 million) are management and support workers. Without them, prevention and treatment of disease and advances in health care cannot reach those in need." Subsectors of health workers include not only those who work in acute care facilities, but also long-term care, community-based care and home-care. Health workers also include informal caregivers. All recommendations in these guidelines apply to all subsectors of health workers. It is noted that special attention is needed in implementation planning to ensure that health workers in the community and in home settings are included.
- These guidelines urge the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. "Primary prevention" refers to measures taken to prevent exposure (both occupational and non-occupational, including a wide range of measures related to sexual and reproductive health, safety-engineered devices to prevent blood-borne exposure, personal protective equipment, natural ventilation to prevent airborne infectious disease transmission, etc.) as well as prevent disease development through measures such as vaccination (e.g. Hepatitis B vaccine). "Secondary prevention" aims at preventing disease from occurring once an exposure has taken place (e.g. latent TB infection testing and treatment, post-exposure prophylaxis, etc.). "Tertiary prevention" is treatment and accommodation to prevent disability (e.g. Antiretroviral Therapy [ART], and job accommodation to reduce risk of exposures that may result in co-morbidity.)