Firms "Must Wake Up to AIDS"

Business leaders gathered at the Commonwealth business forum in London have been urged to take a leadership role in tackling Africa's HIV/AIDS crisis. But Dr. Julia Cleves, a senior policy advisor at UNAIDS, said that many firms still do not regard AIDS as their problem. She admitted that outsourcing -- using contract staff to avoid paying pensions or sick leave -- has already become a reality for some firms in southern Africa. If AIDS means increased labor costs, some firms will simply avoid the issue by going elsewhere, Cleves said. "That just passes the real costs onto the government, but someone has to pay, and AIDS is everybody's business."

Cleves praised the work of a select few multinationals, such as Anglo American, Standard Chartered Bank and Ford, for being "golden lights who are no longer afraid of dealing with the problem." "But there is a tiny minority of firms that are actually doing something." In a recent survey of 230 Nigerian manufacturing firms, the majority did not regard HIV as a management concern.

Many firms are also now waking up to the fact that taking action is not only ethical but also makes financial sense. AIDS dramatically increases the cost of labor, with Standard Chartered Bank estimating that 10 percent of its African workforce is out sick due to AIDS-related illnesses at any one time.

"Businesses must take on a leadership role in getting on with the job of dealing with HIV/AIDS," said Brian Brink, senior vice president of Anglo American. "Our management expertise is vital in ensuring the successful implementation of projects at community level." Brink also hoped the work being done by firms would spur the South African government into taking greater action, but he warned that big business was not prepared to foot the whole bill alone. Supporting dependents of employees with AIDS was the responsibility of the government, not the companies, he said.

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