The impact of HIV/AIDS on human capital and the labour market.

It is increasingly clear that one of the most important effects of the HIV epidemic is on human capital, the human resources that are the main source of wealth for many countries. The epidemic cuts the supply of labour, with a resulting loss of skills, training, experience and "institutional memory". The loss of human capital in sectors such as education and health will have immense implications for the achievement of ILO objectives to reduce poverty and assure decent work. Moreover, the workforce of the future is weakened by the fact that children are being taken out of school early to help care for sick relatives, to raise income for the family, or because they have lost one or both parents to AIDS. DESCRIPTION: The ILO is therefore undertaking a study in order to identify the scale of the impact in subSaharan Africa and to identify the contribution that the ILO's traditional partners - governments, employers, and workers - can make to mitigating its impact on social and economic development. The first phase consists of a survey of existing literature and data, to be followed by surveys in selected countries across Africa. LESSONS LEARNED: The ILO estimates that at least 25 million workers worldwide in their productive prime (aged 15-49) are infected with HIV. Workers face a threat to their rights at work, and - often the loss of jobs and income. Enterprises are affected because labour costs rise while productivity falls as a result of the loss of skilled and experienced workers. The ILO calculates that the size of the labour force in highprevalence countries will be between 10 and 30% smaller by 2020 than it would have been without HIV/AIDS. The epidemic also strikes the most vulnerable groups in society, including women and children, exacerbating existing problems of inadequate social protection, gender inequalities, and child labour. RECOMMENDATIONS: Preliminary findings will be presented to the Conference.

One of the economists created this classification of human capabilities as components of human capital: ?Tangible? capabilities are physiological attributes: stature, strength, stamina, eyesight, hearing, and so on. The individual?s general health status is also included, along with ?longevity?. For the ?intangible? human attributes, three main groups are distinguished: (a) psychomotor based skills, (b)cognitive capabilities, and (c) procedural capabilities. The lattermost among them is further elaborated, distinguishing four kinds of procedural capabilities: (i) the attributes of creativity and ?innovativeness? are separated from (ii) more routinised qualities such as problem-solving abilities, complex task management,

and leadership; (iii)?flexibility?, (being able to perform multi-task activities readily and also to absorb re-training easily) and (iv) ?social? capabilities (a set of specific personal qualities such as diligence, loyalty, cooperativeness and the capacity for discerning trust in other individuals). When I look at psychology textbooks I have found, I do not find anything concerning "procedural capabilities". Creative thinking and problem-solving abilities are the part of cognitive capabilities in those books. So I am confused now. My question is: is this classification (especially procedural capabilities and their further elaboration) based on psychology as a science?