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

the Programme on Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) and the Thailand Business Coalition on
HIV/AIDS (TBCA). PATH provided the curriculum for the peer educators, while the TBCA acted as
the project coordinator, providing information, logistical support and monitoring (see Profile 16). Since
1989, Telepar, a telecommunications company in Brazil, has worked in partnership with government,
NGOs and unions, in developing and implementing peer-educator based HIV/AIDS prevention
programmes to its workforce of over 4,000.
While many business managers have recognised the need for developing workplace initiatives and
policies in response to HIV/AIDS, they are often faced with the daunting challenge of developing their
own corporate policies and programmes. However, given the increasingly widespread experience of
HIV/AIDS programme development within the private sector and a growing willingness to share
experiences, there is no need for reinventing the wheel. Numerous HIV/AIDS workplace guidelines
have been developed, some of which are focused on particular business sectors, for example the guide
for the hospitality industry developed in 1999 by the International Hotel & Restaurant Association in
collaboration with UNAIDS (see Profile 9).
Another example is the Confederation of Indian Industry, with 3,500 Indian business members, which
developed a "HIV/AIDS Policy for Industry" in 2000, documenting good practice by Indian businesses
and presenting policy recommendations. Standard Chartered Bank's recent development of a workplace
policy and awareness campaign (see Profile 8) was assisted by the sharing of material and information
from Glaxo Wellcome and Levi Strauss, through the Global Business Council on HIV&AIDS, and with
advice from the business network BEAD. Standard Chartered Bank has since made available their
HIV/AIDS awareness packs to other banks, bankers' associations and NGOs.
As a response to the willingness to share information and experience, a tool for managers has been
developed as a business-focused guide to workplace responses on HIV/AIDS (see page 22). This has
been based on the experience and information of a number of companies and organisations, including
Anglo Coal, AIDSCAP, BP Southern Africa, Business Exchange on AIDS and Development,
Confederation of Indian Industry, Eskom, Larsen & Toubro, and Standard Chartered Bank.
B. Protecting business interests
Certain business sectors have a direct commercial interest in HIV/AIDS through their core business
operations, primarily the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. The most obvious are the
pharmaceutical companies who are involved in the development of HIV/AIDS treatments and research.
For example, Glaxo Wellcome's "Positive Action" programme is a long-standing and respected
international strategy for developing partnerships with community-based HIV/AIDS organisations,
aimed in part at encouraging dialogue with and between people living with HIV/AIDS. The response
has included a partnership with the International HIV/AIDS Alliance (see Profile 17) to assist in the
development and dissemination of the lessons learned from community-based HIV/AIDS programmes
worldwide.
In 1999, Bristol Myers Squibb launched "Secure the Future", a major 5-year public-private partnership
initiative (see Profile 14). It has committed $US100 million towards medical research and education,
community education and outreach, and capacity-building programmes for women and children
infected or affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. The partnership involves local governments, UNAIDS,
medical and religious institutions and communities.
The insurance industry has a direct commercial interest in HIV/AIDS given the impact on the well
being of its clients and wider community and thus on the direct costs through insurance payments and
future markets. American International Assurance, a life insurance company in Thailand, recently
developed an initiative that sought to integrate HIV/AIDS into its core business practices (see Profile

1). The innovative response was the development of an evaluation and accreditation programme that
provides credited premium value to policyholder companies implementing HIV/AIDS policies and

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