On May 6, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched a program that will offer U.N. employees and their families HIV training, counseling and testing, Chinese news site Xinhuanet.com reports (xinhuanet.com, 5/6).

The program aims to meet 10 minimum standards of HIV treatment and prevention services for U.N. employees—including comprehensive insurance coverage and access to condoms—by 2011. It will also target workplace stigma through awareness education.

“Since the early 1990s, the impact of the virus on our work and on the communities we serve has been historic in magnitude,” Ki-moon said at the program’s U.N. headquarters kickoff. “Many U.N. staff members are still not well prepared to protect themselves and their families from HIV. Others may be afraid to be tested or uncomfortable working with colleagues living with HIV.”