IT IS estimated that each new HIV/AIDs infected employee in the workforce will cost the Jamaican employer approximately four times the employee's average salary or some J$520,000 a year.
By contrast, a basic HIV/AIDS prevention programme, promoting worker education and safe, responsible sexual practices, in a firm of 50 employees costs a mere J$11,250 or about 2 per cent of the average salary of one worker. And, a full prevention and care programme, excluding anti-retroviral treatment, would cost approximately J$45,000 a year.
Dr. Yitades Gebre, Senior Medical Officer, Ministry of Health, says the benefits of prevention and basic treatment far exceed the cost of doing nothing. He explains that: "With the dramatic increase in HIV/AIDS in Jamaica over the past four years and the current 1.5 per cent prevalence rate of the disease among 15-49 year-olds, who include the majority of the workforce, proactive education and prevention programmes at the workplace make a good business sense."
Supporting his argument with international case studies, the Senior Medical Officer notes that in Brazil, the speciality steel and elevator manufacturer, Villares, recorded a 31 per cent reduction in new infections in the first year of an AIDS programme for its 8,000 employees.
Ninety per cent of the 1,500 employees at a major appliance corporation in the Philippines were found to have accurate knowledge regarding the transmission of the disease. And a Zimbabwe condom campaign, which cost participating factories US$6 per worker, effectively reduced new HIV infections by 34 per cent. The multi-national corporation, Unilever, reported that HIV/AIDS accounted for 35 per cent of its health costs, 24 per cent of absenteeism and 9 per cent of funeral attendance.
Here in Jamaica, of the 6,038 people living with AIDS at December 2001, 5,182 or 86 per cent were between the ages of 20 and 59, which comprises the productive group in the workforce. An average, 25 per cent of the 64,000 registered business in Jamaica already have one person living with HIV/AIDS on their workforce. With a fatality rate of 61.1 per cent, huge human and economic losses are inevitable.
In a presentation to corporate leaders attending a recent workshop hosted by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, the Jamaica Employers' Federation and the Ministry of Health, Dr. Gebre asserted that the local business community could prevent the epidemic from affecting their bottom line in the future. "Business must deal with HIV/AIDS as a core management function," he suggests.
The Senior Medical Officer says the Ministry of Health is willing to assist private enterprises committed to implementing HIV/AIDS Workplace Programmes. For best results, Dr. Gebre says businesses should undertake a consultative approach with all stakeholders, to ensure that initiatives are appropriately directed. He also recommends that peer educators from the target groups be involved in the dissemination of information and that companies form partnerships with other businesses, government and non-governmental organisations to facilitate the sharing of expertise and resources.
"Good workplace programmes include legal, ethical, social and economic dimensions and will vary from company to company," Dr. Gebre states.
