HIV/Aids is an issue of immediate relevance to our business, especially in Africa. Here and elsewhere, HIV/Aids has the potential to affect our workforce, our customers, the supply of our raw materials and the economic development and stability of the societies in which we operate. It is therefore essential that we manage the costs and impact of the disease.
Our work in Africa
In many of the African countries in which we operate, more than 5% of the population has contracted HIV/Aids. In some cases this figure is over 30% and Africa continues to be the main focus of our work to fight the disease. All our operations in countries with an HIV/Aids prevalence of over 5% provide employees with education and awareness programmes including access to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). Our companies actively encourage participation in these programmes and pay for treatment for employees, their spouses and dependants. We are making progress. In Uganda, for example, 92% of employees have so far participated in VCT while 94% of HIV positive employees are receiving antiretroviral treatment. Across all businesses in countries with a prevalence of over 5%, 62% of employees have been tested. In the last 12 months the number of employee tests carried out, as a percentage of headcount, was 34%.
In some countries, however, the figures are much lower, largely because of the stigma associated with the disease. During the year we have continued to break down these barriers and promote HIV/Aids testing. We face other challenges, for example, in providing care for the spouses and dependants of our employees – essential if our work is to yield sustainable results. As many as 1,864 of these individuals could be HIV positive and to date, 264 are being treated on a managed healthcare programme. This is lower than we would like and is a difficulty faced by all businesses. We are determined to increase this number.
Overall, our programmes have achieved some real successes. In South Africa, for example, we have monitored and predicted actual deaths from the disease over the last six years. These figures indicate that our VCT and managed healthcare programmes have made a real difference, preventing a number of deaths during this time.
Taking our work into the supply chain
We are now extending our activities to raise awareness of HIV/Aids with the families of our employees, our suppliers and the wider community. In one instance, Nile Breweries in Uganda has been running a successful HIV/Aids programme since 2001 and makes it available both to employees and to the local community. During 2007, it extended the programme to its supply chain including sorghum farmers and their families and the third-party truck drivers who transport Nile Breweries’ beer across Uganda.
Building capacity in Africa
During 2007 we held capacity-building workshops in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Zambia. These were part of a series of sessions in partnership with the Global Business Coalition on HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC). The aim was to share our knowledge and learning with the private sector, local NGOs, multilateral organisations, aid agencies, local and international governments and suppliers and so lay the foundations for a broader contribution to public-private sector initiatives to help stem the spread of HIV/Aids.
Overall, our programmes have achieved some real successes. In South Africa, for example, we have monitored and predicted actual deaths from the disease over the last six years. These figures indicate that our VCT and managed healthcare programmes have made a real difference, preventing a number of deaths during this time.
Intervention outside Africa
HIV/Aids is not only an African phenomenon and we continue to broaden our geographic focus to areas where the issue is less pressing but of growing concern. Following the success of our capacity-building workshops in Africa, we plan to replicate them in India, Russia and Latin America during the next financial year.
Sharing our experiences and pressing for change
In December last year we supported the launch of a new report, ‘Business and HIV/Aids: what have we learnt?’ published by Business Action for Africa.
This was the result of a fact-finding trip to South Africa by three British MPs who visited our bottling and distribution operation in Johannesburg and met affected workers, peer educators and healthcare professionals. They also toured our ‘Friends for Life’ community project that supports orphans and vulnerable children living with HIV/Aids in Alexandra township and talked to local business representatives.
The report highlights the role that the private sector plays in tackling the impact of HIV and Aids in developing countries and argues that the lessons learned in sub-Saharan Africa should be applied to other countries where prevalence rates are increasing. The MPs presented their conclusions in November to John Hutton, Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), who expressed his support.
In March this year we held a stakeholder dialogue workshop in Washington DC. This focused on the issue of stigma and the vital role of private sector partnerships in addressing the pandemic.
In June 2007 we also published ‘Living and Working with HIV/Aids’. This briefing paper presents a more detailed overview of the HIV/Aids pandemic and our programmes and plans.
View the report