Maputo, Mozambique — About 200 people living with HIV/AIDS on Tuesday marched on the Mozambican parliament in Maputo to demand legislation defending the rights of workers infected by HIV.

In a message addressed to the chairman of the Assembly, Eduardo Mulembue, the demonstrators warned of "discrimination, segregation and generalised stigmatisation suffered by workers living with HIV/AIDS".

They claimed that sackings of HIV-positive workers were on the increase and that some companies (which they did not name) have effectively made testing negative for HIV a condition that candidates for employment must fulfil.

The spread of AIDS was "a national emergency", they said, and demanded that the Assembly pass appropriate legislation at its next sitting (scheduled to begin in October).

The chairman of the Assembly's Social Affairs Commission, Aurelio Zilhao, told the marchers that they could count on the full backing of the deputies.

He said his commission was indeed working on draft legislation, and he hoped that this could indeed come before the full Assembly in October.