Business support sought in AIDS fight

Zimbabwe's business community should consider subsidising antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for HIV-positive workers struggling to access the medication, a government official has said. Health and Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa told reporters in the capital, Harare, on Wednesday that anti-AIDS care and treatment should not be the responsibility of the government alone. He stressed that greater involvement by businesses would ensure that companies reduced the costs of training new people to replace those who had succumbed to AIDS-related illnesses. Parirenyatwa accused local companies of trying to maximise profits by reducing expenditure on corporate social responsibility.