Business "must treat HIV workers:" Annan

The rapidly-falling prices of drugs to treat HIV/AIDS is ushering in arevolution for involvement by private industry in the care and treatment of workers affected by the virus, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has told the US Chamber of Commerce. US business is one of the greatest forces in the world, he told the business leaders, adding: "it is high time we tapped your strengths to the full."

The world's biggest pharmaceutical companies now accept the need to combine incentives for research with access to medication in poor countries, said Mr Annan. As antiretroviral drugs become more widely affordable, it is now more profitable for companies to treat their HIV-positive employees than to recruit and re-train new ones as untreated workers die, he noted, adding that one recent study in Africa showed that treating HIV-positive workers paid for itself up to 10 times over.

For example, in 1996 Volkswagen do Brasil launched an HIV prevention and education program in the workplace, with treatment, including antiretrovirals, counseling and a policy to end discrimination and ensure confidentiality. By 1999, said Mr Annan, hospitalization among HIV-positive workers had dropped 90%, and costs of treatment and care were down 40%. 90% of workers living with HIV were able to remain symptom-free, leading to increased productivity, less absenteeism, reduced loss of employees and higher morale.