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Transnet launches HIV/AIDS project
Patrick Leeman. 12 March 2003. The Mercury. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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A sum of R500-million has been set aside by Transnet for a lifestyle management programme for employees with HIV/AIDS, and Spoornet, a division of Transnet, has been selected as a pilot site for the implementation.
Making this announcement at the International Convention Centre in Durban on Tuesday, the acting chief executive officer of Spoornet, Tshidi Nyama, said medical intervention would allow for access to anti-retroviral therapy for employees clinically diagnosed as requiring such treatment.
She said the medical programme to be offered by Spoornet would include treatment for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV for pregnant employees, post-exposure prophylaxis for those accidentally exposed to HIV so that they could start taking medication within a few hours of exposure, and the treatment of chronic HIV infection, as well as certain opportunistic infections.
Nyama said the programme made provision for assessing fitness and stress relief as well as monitoring of drug compliance and weight and dietary issues.
She said affected employees would be referred to a doctor for testing, counselling, treatment and monitoring.
Nyama said an important innovation in the programme was the option to redeploy infected and weak employees to other departments within Spoornet where the workload was lighter, while undergoing anti-retroviral treatment.
This would assist the employees to continue working while they were being treated when they reached advanced stages of the disease.
She said this measure would help to ensure that employees did not feel marginalised or
victimised.
Nyama said the only way the "catastrophe" of HIV/AIDS would be beaten was to change the behaviour of those who did not have the disease and accepting, treating and caring for those who were infected so their lives could be prolonged.
She said not many companies were prepared to sacrifice their profits in order to carry the medical costs of their employees with HIV/AIDS.
The general manager of Spoornet, Abner Mofokeng, said the company had already set aside R35-million in the current financial year for the treatment of employees with HIV/AIDS - that represented R1 000 for each of the company's 35 000 employees. |
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