HEALTH-SRI LANKA: HIV Awareness a Wise Investment for Business

By Feizal Samath Reprint | | Print |

Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, Nov 27 2002 (IPS) - These days, senior employees of companies in Sri Lanka’s free trade zones not only look over the work of their staff, mostly women garment workers, but also teach them about health and HIV/AIDS.

This is but one of the many lessons that Sri Lanka is learning from other countries whose businesses are realising the impact the pandemic has on their bottom line – and are investing in promoting awareness about HIV/AIDS and safe sex, or even providing condoms in the workplace.

For instance, the Employers Confederation of Thailand has initiated workshops on HIV/AIDS and the global jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss & Co has support groups for people with HIV/AIDS.

In the Philippines, Philacor Corp has become involved in peer education while the Ngoc Ha Shoe Co in Vietnam provides free condoms and HIV-testing facilities for workers.

Farther away, Angiogold, a mining company in South Africa, has a pilot project to provide workers with anti-retroviral therapy, the cost of which is still beyond the reach of many people living with HIV/AIDS.

Local experts say that Sri Lanka is quite a distance away from having to what the South African firm did, but add that these examples show the risks of not paying urgent attention to the pandemic as well as what the private sector can do about it. ”The private sector needs to know how to manage this situation and start now because we are in a slightly better position of having a low prevalence of HIV/AIDS. We have a lot of challenges in this sector,” Renton de Alwis, secretary general and chief executive officer of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, explained.

He says that companies’ involvement in the health of their own human resources flows from management concepts that the chamber follows, like competitiveness enhancement with social equity.

The chamber has driven business initiatives in fields of peace, education, children’s needs and now HIV/AIDS, saying there is greater need for corporate social responsibility.

Health experts say it is never too early to invest in education and health, because all over the world the AIDS pandemic has had a major impact on companies and workplaces, not to mention the economy.

Indeed, Dr Iyanthi Abeywickrema, director of the National STD/AIDS Programme in Sri Lanka, a government agency, said that even in this low-prevalence country, 82 percent of those with HIV are in the 20 to 49 year-old age group – the most productive years.

Indeed, governments cannot go it alone, say experts who have worked with business communities around the world.

”There are many companies that have developed strategies to combat HIV/AIDS and these have helped companies to improve productivity and efficiency levels,” said Dr Kare Moen, advisor to the Norway-based Centre for Health and Social Development (CHSD).

”HIV has a negative influence on the business environment and the sooner steps are taken to be aware of the problem and reduce its impact on the workplace, the better it is for companies and their profitability,” Moen told a workshop here this month organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

In the long run, Moen said, HIV/AIDS has a major on global disposable incomes, which go down when the affected have to spend lot on drugs. Savings in society fall, consumer markets shrink, fewer resources are available for production and investment and high-prevalence countries record negative economic growth.

Companies then have to spend more on insurance and pensions, and to finance deaths and funerals, while the frequency of replacing staff gets higher.

”Companies should resort to early intervention strategies which have shown to be more effective than those who delayed in putting pro-active HIV/AIDS policies in the workplace,” he said.

Moen said workplace programmes should include spreading correct information about the pandemic and risky sexual behaviour to workers, and putting this high on the company agenda.

Often, this means developing a HIV/AIDS policy, non-discriminatory work policies, making condoms available, providing diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases and treatment, prevention education, counselling and testing, care and support.

”The most important thing is to recognise HIV/AIDS is a workplace issue and has implications for business,” he added.

Abeywickrema agrees, saying that although HIV was reported in Sri Lanka later than other countries, there should be no complacency in handling the situation.

Some 250 people have died of HIV/AIDS as of 2001, according to the Joint U.N. Programme on HIV/AIDS. Some 7,200 people in this country of 19 million people are estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS.

”We expect more people to be affected since the first case was detected some 10 years ago, it takes that long for symptoms to be evident in those living with HIV/AIDS,” she said.

Likewise, Abeywickrema explained: ”Sri Lanka is a low prevalence country but we are surrounded by high-prevalence countries like India, Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) and if we are not careful, we could have an epidemic on our hands.” In response to the pandemic, the government has begun a social marketing programme promoting the use of condoms. But as in other developing countries, many Sri Lankans are still shy about buying condoms. ”We are at least trying to promote the condom for disease control but still there is a reluctance,” she added.

HEALTH-SRI LANKA: HIV Awareness a Wise Investment for Business

By Feizal Samath Reprint | | Print |

Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, Nov 27 2002 (IPS) - These days, senior employees of companies in Sri Lanka’s free trade zones not only look over the work of their staff, mostly women garment workers, but also teach them about health and HIV/AIDS.
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