A Gauteng man who won a case of discrimination and unfair dismissal against his former employers in the Labour Court, in Johannesburg, says he hopes the ruling will encourage other HIV-positive people who are being discriminated against by their employers to come forward. The court ruled in his favour yesterday, stating that he was unfairly dismissed by his employer because of his HIV status.

In a decisive move to encourage as many South Africans as possible to know their HIV status, the Health Department is now taking its HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign to young people at high school level. Parliament has approved the proposal and the department says the development of a policy for school-based HIV testing is now advanced.