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Companies lacking HIV/AIDS policy

    JOHANNESBURG

    Mining giant, Anglo-American, on Wednesday expressed concern over companies who are ill-prepared for the impact of AIDS on their workforce.

    An International Business Owners Survey of 250 medium-sized companies by accounting firm Grant Thornton Kessel Feinstein showed that 69 percent of local businesses had no HIV/AIDS policy.

    "A company's workforce is still productive during the infection curve, so many businesses have not prepared for the inevitable sickness curve," Anglo-American strategist, Clem Sunter, told the UN news service PlusNews.

    Anglo-American has already introduced policies to provide HIV/AIDS treatment for their employees.

    "Companies are yet to appreciate the scale of the pandemic. It is still more cost effective to treat employees rather than replace incapacitated ones," Sunter added.

    Sunter said Coca-Cola recently reported a 2002 fall of sales in the KwaZulu-Natal province where 33,5 percent of the population are infected with HIV/AIDS.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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