Former employees to benefit from motor giant's HIV/AIDS policy

Motor giant, Daimler Chrysler South Africa (DCSA) on Friday said it would extend HIV/AIDS treatment to former employees. DCSA was one of the few South African companies to respond to the pandemic when it adopted an HIV/AIDS workplace policy in 1996. "We will pick up the tab for the drugs and monitoring of HIV-positive staff who were made redundant by operational requirements," DCSA national spokesman, Dr Clifford Panter told the UN news service PlusNews. Panter said management made this decision on 20 February and would meet again on 5 March to amend the existing policy to cover ex-staff members. "This new policy will be extended until such time as the government implements antiretroviral treatment in public hospitals," Panter added. DCSA said 450 of its staff were currently benefiting from its existing policy.