Worldwide business response to Aids 'inadequate'

The response from businesses across the world to the growing problem of Aids is “inadequate”, the director of the Global Health Initiative said today.

Kate Taylor’s comments came after a report indicating that while many firms are concerned about current or future impacts of Aids on their businesses and their communities, few have implemented measures to counter the threat.

Of nearly 8,000 businesses in 103 countries surveyed for the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Initiative report, 47% felt that HIV will have some impact on their business.

This figure was much lower in countries that to date have not been hard-hit by HIV.

The Forum report released to coincide with World Aids Day today showed important regional variances – in Africa, 89% thought HIV would have some impact, but in the Middle East and North Africa that figure dropped to 33%. Worldwide, only 21% of surveyed firms expect HIV to have a severe impact on their business.

The report, written in collaboration with Professor David Bloom of Harvard University and UNAIDS, also revealed that two-thirds of businesses thought that HIV was not currently inflicting significant impacts on their operating costs.

Yet in heavily-affected regions, some businesses reported serious negative impacts in their productivity and absenteeism, recruitment and training expenses, death and disability expenses, and even revenues.

Business leaders estimated lower HIV infection rates among their workforce than UNAIDS, although 36% of business leaders did not, or could not, estimate how many of their employees had HIV.

Kate Taylor, Director of the Global Health Initiative at the World Economic Forum said: “The findings show that just as the efforts by most governments have been insufficient, the overall private sector response to date is inadequate.

“Despite the ground-breaking efforts undertaken by leading companies, a great deal more needs to be done by the broader business community.”

The survey also revealed that businesses’ response to the epidemic has so far been limited. Fewer than 6% of responding companies had formally-approved written HIV policies, but over a third, nevertheless, believed their current policies and programmes were sufficient and effective.

Of the companies who do have written policies, one-quarter may still require disclosure of a current or prospective employee’s HIV status and do not prohibit discrimination during recruitment; 22% do not forbid discrimination based on HIV status during promotion, pay or benefits decisions, contrary to standards set by the International Labour Organisation.

On the whole, firms appear to be satisfied with their ability to deal with the problem, with only 20% reporting that existing policies may be insufficient. However, firms that believe HIV/Aids will have a serious impact on their business are more concerned, with 41% discontented with their existing policies.

“There is no doubt that in recent years the business community has started waking up to the enormous threat posed by the Aids epidemic to its workforces and markets,” said Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS.

“However, the Forum’s first ever survey of gobal business leaders’ perceptions shows the enormity of the task in front of us.

“Aids is a menace to the economic and social stability of the whole world - not only sub-Saharan Africa. This survey highlights the urgent need for businesses in other parts of the world, particularly in Asia, to take action now.”

According to UNAIDS, another five million people have been infected and another three million have died of Aids-related diseases this year.

There were 42 million people estimated to be living with HIV/Aids around the world at the end of 2002.