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Article

1 Aug 2010

Author:
Garry White, Telegraph [UK]

Anglo's HIV measures make sense [So. Africa]

One company that has faced the catastrophic impact of HIV/AIDS head on is... Anglo American...Ten years ago, the company had to train two people to do each job – just in case one of them died. Now the situation is much more manageable..."The big turning point was when the treatment became available and effective in 2002," Dr Brian Brink [Anglo's Group Medical Consultant] says. "We decided to make the treatment available to all of our staff, despite the fact we didn't know what this would cost," he added...However, while the company was willing to pay for antiretroviral therapy (ART), the real obstacle...was the stigma, fear and distrust surrounding the disease. "We had to let our staff know that if they were HIV-positive their jobs were safe," Dr Brink says. "This, combined with an effective treatment, meant that the consequences of having the disease were not as devastating as they used to be."... [W]ithout ART the company would be in a much worse situation...Anglo has learnt that companies benefit from investing in the health of their staff and it is a lesson businesses moving into developing countries need to learn.