Share & more
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is an economic time bomb that poses a major threat to the profitability of companies in South Africa, the country's second largest financial services group, Sanlam, has warned.
The warning was based on the findings of the group's national biennial survey of retirement benefits.
Danie van Zyl, Sanlam's employee benefits actuary, said the research showed that companies were increasingly becoming aware of the alarmingly high cost of the disease.
"Although the financial consequences for employers are the less visible impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, these can be measured in lost productivity, absenteeism, recruitment, and the cost of training replacements that have to take the place of staff lost as a result of the disease," Van Zyl said in a statement. "Some health management consultants estimate this cost to be as high as 5 percent of salary in some cases."
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
