ADDIS ABABA (AFP) -- The International Labor Organization called for employers, governments and workers to join forces in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

"Cooperation between employers, government and workers and their representatives is the appropriate tool to control HIV/AIDS and reduce its effects," ILO said Friday in a final resolution issued at the end of a four-day regional conference in the Ethiopian capital.

"The workplace would be the effective entry point for prevention messages and measures to combat discrimination, as well as delivery of care and treatment for HIV/AIDS," the resolution said.

The resolution noted that some 42 million people worldwide were living with the HIV virus, a large majority of whom are productive.

The world's worst-hit region is sub-Saharan Africa, where some 26.6 million people are infected.

The resolution urged the ILO Governing Council to appeal to governments to promote and support the efforts of employers and workers to combat HIV/AIDS by providing an enabling legal and policy framework for workplace action.

"Governments also need to facilitate access to financial resources of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for social partners in the world of work," the resolution said. It called on employers, workers and their organizations "to scale up their joint efforts to reduce the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS by implementing comprehensive workplace programs, including prevention and measures to combat stigma and discrimination and provide care and support."

The resolution also asked the ILO's director general to prioritize and accelerate efforts by the tripartite groups in all African countries to reduce the scourge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.