HIV/AIDS - ISSUES FOR THE WORKPLACE

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HIV/AIDS - ISSUES FOR THE WORKPLACE

• PRINCIPLES, PLANNING, POLICY, PROGRAMMES
  AND
• PROJECT PARTICIPATION

Rose Smart HIV/AIDS
Consultant South Africa
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Preamble

• Only fifteen years ago, if one had called
  business, labour, government and non government
  representatives together to discuss how to deal
  with the AIDS epidemic, most would not have even
  more than a fleeting idea of what it was, let
  alone why they should discuss it. Today,
  companies have lost top managers, workers have
  lost colleagues and huge amounts of time, energy
  and emotion have been spent pre-occupied with
  issues of illness and loss. Whole families have
  collapsed, while companies struggling against a
  background of chronic poverty have taken on
  deeper burdens of dependency

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Statement of the problem

• AIDS causes illness, disability and death to
  workers and severe economic and emotional
  disruptions to their families. It also increases
  the cost of doing business.
• Disease prevention and health promotion are not
  commonly thought to be business concerns. The
  HIV/AIDS epidemic has forced a reconsideration of
  this position.

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Ten Workplace Facts(1)

• Fact - The crisis is immense - AIDS is a real
  problem affecting workers and business operations
  - many companies are losing around 3 of their
  workers to AIDS each year
• Fact - 80 of HIV transmission in Southern Africa
  occurs due to heterosexual sex
• Fact - Young adults have the highest levels of
  infection and our nations economically active
  population, parents of young children and future
  leaders are at greatest risk
• Fact - AIDS will decrease life expectancy in
  South Africa by 20 years to about 40 by the year
  2008
• Fact - HIV has increased the burden of ill health
  and mortality in the 15 - 50 year age group two
  to three fold. According to the ILO, an average
  of 15 years of working life will be lost per
  employee due to AIDS

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Ten Workplace Facts(2)

• Fact - The indirect costs of HIV/AIDS are greater
  than the direct costs. The costs of lost time
  have been consistently shown to be the most
  significant costs to companies
• Fact - HIV infected persons have 5 - 10 years on
  average of asymptomatic productive working life.
  This period can be lengthened by health promotion
  and stress management.
• Fact- Transmission of HIV poses little or no risk
  in most work settings
• Fact - Averting an HIV infection through
  prevention programmes yields a cost benefit ratio
  to companies of anything from 12 to 1400
• Fact - The workplace is an appropriate and
  important setting for AIDS programmes because
  workers spend a significant amount of time at
  work.

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Ten Workplace Principles(1)

• The following principles apply to the
• workplace setting
• Principle 1 Promote non-discrimination and
  openness around HIV/AIDS
• Principle 2 Because AIDS is a preventable
  disease it makes sense to offer prevention
  education to all workers and to specifically
  invest in targeting situations of high risk
• Principle 3 AIDS prevention works - we can
  change behaviour. But, information alone is not
  enough to change behaviour. Behaviour change is
  only possible if we reach solutions by developing
  our own responses and people need to be taught
  skills to enable them to put the information into
  practice

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Ten Workplace Principles(2)

• Principle 4 Education needs to be complemented
  by supportive services
• Principle 5 AIDS programmes in the workplace
  can help control the epidemic and reduce the
  impact on businesses
• Principle 6 Effective AIDS prevention yields
  enormous savings in averted AIDS costs
• Principle 7 The most powerful change agents are
  our friends and peers
• Principle 8 The involvement of people living
  with HIV/AIDS is central to an effective
  workplace programme

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Ten Workplace Principles(3)

• Principle 9 AIDS programmes must be simple,
  specific, concrete and verifiable. Use core
  management principles (simplicity, focus, precise
  targets, strong performance monitoring) and an
  explicit results chain (required inputs, outputs,
  outcomes and impacts)
• Principle 10 Strategies and projects in areas of
  economic and social development which address
  poverty, income inequality, the bargaining power
  of women, housing, migrancy and so on will
  address the underlying factors which fuel the
  epidemic

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Planning A three-stage process is recommended
to ensure optimal workplace HIV/AIDS/STD/TB
policies and programmes

• Step One
• Identify factors related to your workplace which
  result in HIV infection i.e. put the epidemic in
  its social, economic and cultural context
• (i.e. who is infected or vulnerable to infection
  and why) by
• identifying what is known, what is not known and
• what information needs to be collected
• Collect information on
• structural issues (demography of the workforce,
  migration, risk factors in the workplace), health
  issues (STDs, TB) and policy issues

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Planning Step Two

• Identify the obstacles and opportunities
• (i) at worker level
• relating to the context within which people live
  and work
• in respect of the resources that they have access
  to
• in the choices that they are empowered to make
• (ii) at organisational level
• in respect of education and awareness
• in respect of health care
• in respect of social development
• in respect of impact analysis

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Planning Step Three

• Identify priorities for action which
• are realistic
• exploit inherent resources
• will receive support from management, workers,
  clients and community leaders
• Plans must encompass the three cornerstones of an
  effective response to HIV/AIDS, namely
• Prevention, Care, Non-discrimination

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Policy

• There are significant benefits to developing and
• adopting an HIV/AIDS/STD/TB workplace policy
  which
• defines a companys position
• sets a foundation for the HIV/AIDS programme
• provides a framework for consistency of practice
• expresses standards of behaviour expected of
  employees, supervisors and management
• sets standards for communication about AIDS
• lets employees know what assistance is available
• assures consistency with Government and
  international statutes

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Characteristics of a Successful HIV/AIDS/STD/TB
workplace policies

• are formulated around principles of
  non-discrimination, equity and confidentiality,
  rights and responsibilities
• are developed in consultation
• are based on current medical knowledge and
  scientific information
• are dynamic and able to adapt to changing
  situations
• are communicated to all existing and all new
  staff members

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ProgrammeThe benefits of an HIV/AIDS/STD/TB
workplace programme include

• reducing STDs reduction in risk behaviour HIV
  infections prevented
• reducing absenteeism, morbidity and mortality
• creating a more tolerant and accepting attitude
  towards HIV infected workers
• producing positive effects on morale and
  productivity
• promoting the companys image as a good corporate
  citizen

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Successful HIV/AIDS/STD/TB programmes

• have top management support
• are developed, implemented and monitored by
  bipartite committees
• are integrated into general health promotion
  programmes
• are backed by access to a company health service
• build environments for long-term behaviour change
• monitor impact through collection and review of
  company health, sick leave, turnover and
  productivity data
• provide training and information support to staff
  managing the programme
• have a forum to exchange experiences and ideas

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Project participation Among the many benefits
of company participation in community
HIV/AIDS/STD/TB projects are the following

• increasing the capacity of communities to deal
  with
• HIV/AIDS
• allowing for the loaning of company resources and
  
• skills such as
• marketing, advertising, public relations
• communications and publishing
• information technology
• market research
• employee volunteers
• training resources
• donation/loan of equipment
• distribution networks

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Project participation other benefits

• facilitating the establishment of partnerships
• improving inter-sectoral co-ordination and
  communication
• supporting socio-economic development

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Successful project participation

• embraces the vision of the National AIDS
  Programme
• builds alliances with community based
  organisations
• facilitates the sharing of resources
• is responsive to cultural issues

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Conclusion

• Employers of today find there are an ever
  increasing number
• of social burdens being placed on them. Although
  the law
• does not require an employer to develop a
  workplace AIDS
• policy and programme, to do so makes good
  business sense
• and makes for good labour relations. It gives a
  clear message
• to the workforce that the employer is committed
  to social
• issues, enables employees to protect themselves
  against
• possible infection, provides the employer with an
  opportunity
• to plan for the impact of HIV/AIDS and allows for
  the
• minimising of the impact of the epidemic