The Business Response to HIV/AIDS: Impact and lesson learned

employee welfare underpinned HIV prevention campaigns designed to protect the workforce from
infection. These have had the additional affect of destigmatising an issue that had generated an often
hostile and sensationalist reaction.
The legacy of these early initiatives has been exploited to improve conditions for those people living
with HIV who are now benefiting from recent developments in drug therapies. In 2000, the first
Edelman Health AIDS and Employment Awards for Europe, organised by the European AIDS and
Enterprise Network (EAEN), recognised four companies for their responses to HIV/AIDS:
1. Policy Response to H1V/AIDS - IBM France was selected for its long-standing commitment to
principles devised to guide its occupational health managers;
2. HIV Education and Training for Employees - Standard Chartered Bank of the UK was selected for
its investment in an extensive programme of peer education that was started in Africa (see Profile 8);
3. Steps to Retain and Recruit People Living with HIV/AIDS - two awards were made, one
recognising the important role of small businesses to BEHF Architects of Austria, the other to Lego
of Denmark for their support to an employee who wished to remain in employment in spite of a
temporary inability to work full time.
In countries where the HIV prevalence rates are high, the principal motivation for business is invariably
to minimise the impact of HIV/AIDS on the business operations and employees. This was a primary
reason for Anglo Coal (see Profile 10) and Eskom (see Profile 11) of South Africa, and for Standard
Chartered Bank of the UK (see Profile 8) to establish extensive peer-education and prevention
campaigns for their workforce and dependents. As a result, these companies have observed tremendous
gains in HIV/AIDS awareness amongst their workforces, with Eskom having detected lower prevalence
rates than was predicted before their long-term prevention campaigns. Moreover, they have recognised
the necessity for monitoring the initiatives and learning from the outcomes.
Central to many of the workplace responses, in both the developing and the more developed countries,
is the establishment of non-discriminatory practices in relation to people living with HIV/AIDS. For
example, Larsen & Toubro (see Profile 4), India, have established a policy to prevent discrimination in
the hiring, promotion, transfer and training of its employees and prospective employees. This is coupled
with the provision of counselling to people living with HIV/AIDS through NGOs and governmental
organisations. These widely used policies are regarded as crucial factors in providing good working
environments and for building knowledge of HIV/AIDS amongst the workforce.
Some companies have established HIV/AIDS care programmes in order to manage costs as a result of
frequent illness and hospitalisation and loss of employees. Volkswagen, Brazil, provides assistance and
care by giving employees access to antiretroviral drugs, regular viral load tests, and referral to specialist
hospitals and home care treatments. This is combined with prevention and health education and
counselling. The results have been to reduce rates of hospitalisation by 90 percent and costs as a result of
HIV/AIDS reduced by 40 percent (see Profile 5). Adopting such an approach is dependent on available
resources and as such is invariably an option only the larger companies are able to undertake. Moreover,
in many developing countries with significant HIV prevalence rates, the high relative cost of treatment
often prevents such care provision. However, some companies, such as Anglo Coal, have established
programmes for the treatment of opportunistic infections, condom distribution and counselling for
employees and partners as a mechanism of managing care and prevention of HIV/AIDS.
Many businesses that have addressed HIV/AIDS within their workforces have done so in partnership
with NGOs and governmental organisations. These partnerships play an important role in accessing

specialised knowledge and experience. For example, the Shell Company of Thailand launched a peer
education programme aimed at pump attendants at its petrol stations in partnership with two NGOs,

THE BUSINESS RESPONSE TO HIV/AIDS: Impact and lessons learned

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