Thursday 20 January, Geneva, Switzerland – Businesses rarely draw up written policies to tackle HIV/AIDS until 20% of the country’s population is infected, according to a global survey on the impact of the disease on business. The findings come from the Business and HIV/AIDS: Commitment and Action? report, jointly published today by the Global Health Initiative (GHI) of the World Economic Forum, Harvard School of Public Health and UNAIDS, after a survey of almost 9,000 business leaders in 104 countries.

“Too few companies are responding proactively to the social and business threats of HIV/AIDS,” said Dr Kate Taylor, Director of the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Initiative. “This is true of countries with very high, and with low but rising, levels of HIV. Given the potential benefits of putting programmes in place to address the disease, this is clearly a case of ‘too little, too late.’”

Despite the fact that 14,000 people contract HIV/AIDS every day, concern among businesses has dropped by 23% in the last 12 months, with most companies (71%) having no policies in place to address the disease. Over 65% of the business leaders surveyed could not say or estimate the prevalence of HIV within their own workforce.

“As a global community, every level of society needs to be mindful of what they can do to contribute to an effective response to HIV/AIDS,” said Kathleen Cravero, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS. “We hope more businesses will become proactively involved in issues such as AIDS. We know it is not just socially responsible; it is also a good investment.”

Anglo American, the international mining and natural resources company, estimates an HIV prevalence rate of 24% in its 130,000-strong Southern African workforce. Over the last two years the company has implemented extensive voluntary counselling and testing for HIV infection, coupled with antiretroviral therapy for employees progressing to AIDS. Over 90% of the 2,200 employees who have accessed and remained on treatment are well and have returned to normal work.

“The report shows widespread corporate indifference to the impact of AIDS on their businesses. Our growing experience shows that effective action on HIV/AIDS is synonymous with good business management and leads to more profitable and sustainable operations,” said Brian Brink, Senior Vice-President, Health, at Anglo American Corporation. “Importantly, companies should encourage all workers to know their HIV status, making it as routine as monitoring blood pressure or cholesterol. Providing access to treatment is a critical part of this.”

Across sub-Saharan Africa, even in countries with an HIV prevalence of 10-19%, only around 7% of companies have formal HIV/AIDS policies in place. There is an even greater gap between prevalence and policies in China, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria and Russia, the so-called “next wave” countries, which are predicted to experience the highest numbers of new HIV/AIDS cases worldwide by 2010.

“The Forum survey adds an important building block to our understanding of how the business community is experiencing the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to whether and how it is reacting," said David Bloom, Professor of Economics and Demography at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The report concludes with recommendations that businesses need to better understand their risk exposure and learn to manage them from local good practices. A key priority, in both high and low-prevalence settings, is to establish a policy based on non-discrimination and confidentiality.

For further information about the GHI please e-mail globalhealth@weforum.org

For a full copy of the report please visit http://www.weforum.org/globalhealth/globalsurvey

The Global Health Initiative was launched in 2001 by the World Economic Forum to increase the quality and quantity of business sector involvement in HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Today the GHI works with over 170 companies, intergovernmental organizations and governments in the US, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and South and East Asia. (www.weforum.org/globalhealth)

THE GLOBAL FUND WELCOMES UK’s COMPREHENSIVE HIV/AIDS PLAN
Calls for Early Launch of the IFF


Geneva – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria hailed today’s speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown laying out a UK proposal for a comprehensive global plan to combat HIV/AIDS as a far-sighted, balanced and sound strategy which - if fully implemented - could break the AIDS pandemic.

“AIDS is not unbeatable,” said Professor Richard Feachem, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “It is not a natural catastrophe we have to endure. But to get on top of this pandemic, we need to think big and act boldly. We need to invest up front. Unless we reach a high threshold of action and financing, our efforts are wasted. Gordon Brown’s ideas are big and bold – just what we need to win the war against this virus. “

The core element in the Chancellor’s speech of frontloading development assistance through an International Finance Facility is seen as particularly useful. HIV/AIDS is a prime example of the need to front load development assistance. Contrary to recent claims in the media that development assistance is not effective, investments against HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases produce measurable, concrete results in terms of lives saved and reduced health costs. A recent study shows that with an effective combination of prevention and treatment programs, 29 million new infections can be prevented by 2020 in Africa alone, saving 10 million lives and reducing annual health expenditures by at least $3 billion.

“Without the IFF, we cannot conquer AIDS, TB or malaria, and we cannot achieve the other Millennium Development Goals,” stressed Professor Feachem.

Through its grants-based financing system, the Global Fund can rapidly expand its distribution of available resources for effective programs to combat HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. By only funding programs that recipient countries have designed according to their own national HIV/AIDS plans and priorities, and by funding both public and private implementers of these programs, the Global Fund is vastly increasing the absorptive capacity of developing countries while building up health systems to ensure long-term sustainability.

The Global Fund currently supports over 300 programs in 130 countries around the world. More than half of these grants are for programs fighting HIV/AIDS. Sixty percent of the funding goes to Africa. To take the offensive in the fight against HIV/AIDS, annual investments must increase threefold by 2007, and additional money is required to combat TB and malaria.

In 2005 the Global Fund needs $2.3 billion to meet current commitments alone. This figure will increase to $3.4 billion by 2006 and must double again before 2010. “Only with the IFF will this doubling be possible”, said Professor Feachem.