Businesses still ignorant about impact of AIDS

South African companies are still ignorant of the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS on business, a recent survey has revealed. Findings by the South African Coalition for Business against HIV/AIDS showed that only 40 percent of major national companies had strategies in place to counter the impact of the disease on the workplace. Although an estimated one in five managers was HIV-positive, Gavin George, a researcher with the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Health Economics and AIDS Division, said large companies did not think the pandemic would have a major effect on their businesses. A local newspaper, The Mercury, quoted George as saying: "Many companies do not have proper systems in place - these are big mistakes. They choose to ignore [HIV/AIDS]."