|
|
 |
South African business praised for HIV/AIDS response
World Economic Forum Press Release. 01 June 2005.
|
Based on a World Economic Forum study of 1,552 African based companies being shared at the Africa Economic Summit 2005 in Cape Town today, South African companies appear to be leading the way in the response to HIV/AIDS with up to 91% having an HIV/AIDS policy in place.
But the study shows there is little room for complacency across the continent. Sub-Saharan African companies are not responding quickly enough ?– on average only 34% have either a written or informal HIV/AIDS policy in place and up to 93% already feel the impact of HIV/AIDS on their revenues.
?“This year?’s Africa Economic Summit is in Cape Town and we are delighted to be able to say it is South African companies that are leading the way in their awareness of the HIV/AIDS problem and its impact on the workforce,?” says Francesca Boldrini, Associate Director, Global Health Initiative, World Economic Forum. ?“In line with the Commission for Africa?’s recommendations, we believe more businesses in other African countries need to follow this example.?”
Shrinking labour pools, increased costs and decreased productivity could significantly impact the competitiveness of African business. Data from the survey show that, on average, 51% of African businesses feel the impact of HIV/AIDS on their revenues, with the largest costs resulting from decreased productivity and absenteeism (incurred by 53% of businesses) and recruitment and training expenses (incurred by 49% of businesses).
The positive news is that when African companies act against HIV/AIDS, they are generally doing it well. Their best practices could act as a guide to business in other developing countries. Some of the strongest HIV/AIDS business efforts in the world are in Africa; they include workplace programmes at Anglo American, BMW, Heineken, VW, Standard Chartered and Eskom. In fact, data from 500 large businesses in South Africa show 86% have policies and prevention programmes in place and 65% offer treatment and care to their employees.
?“We want to ensure more African countries start tackling HIV/AIDS in their workforces and communities. More needs to be done; a company like AngloGold estimates that, in 2009, its HIV/AIDS expenses in South Africa will range from 8% to 17% of total payroll costs. AngloGold has a programme in place to deal with this, but what could happen to those who don?’t??” says Boldrini.
HIV is a sexually transmitted disease; it can be prevented and treated. Today, 34 to 46 million people are living with HIV/AIDS ?– over half of these are in Africa, where there are over 8,000 new infections every day. This huge human toll results in significant and growing economic losses. For example, recent UNAIDS data show four countries in sub-Saharan Africa are projected to have workforces over 30% smaller in 2020 because of HIV. Fourteen countries will see losses of between 10% and 30%.
For more on this press release, please visit the World Economic Forum website, which can be accessed on the righthand side of this page. |
| Was this article helpful to you? |
 ?100%???? ?0%
|
|
Back
|
|
|
|
