JOHANNESBURG, Nov 25 (AFP) - South Africa's staggering AIDS rate is severely impacting on the profits of nearly two-thirds of mines surveyed in a study released on Thursday.
"The survey results show that a substantial number of companies are already suffering the consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic," said a report by the South African Business Coalition on HIV and AIDS.
Chief executive Brad Mears said the research, conducted by sending questionnaires to 1,008 companies between July and September 2004, came up with similar results from the first survey released a year ago, indicating that the situation has not improved.
However this year the mining and financial services sectors were for the first time included in the study.
"When asked how HIV/AIDS is affecting company profits, between 40 percent and 50 percent of the respondents in the financial services and manufacturing sectors indicated that the epidemic has already had an adverse impact on the bottom line," the report stated.
"Sixty-two percent of the mines surveyed indicated that the epidemic has already had an adverse impact on their profits, while 75 percent expect a negative impact in five years' time."
Mining makes up 40 percent of the Johannesburg Securities Exchange and contributes 8.1 percent to South Africa's gross domestic product and employs about 500,000 people.
South Africa has one of the highest AIDS rates in the world with UNAIDS estimating that one in five adults are infected.
The pandemic also caused higher labour turnover, lost experience and skills, increased worker absenteeism, higher recruitment costs and lower productivity.
Larger companies seemed to have policies in place to deal with the effects of the disease but small and medium enterprises could not afford it, Mears said.
"Whereas approximately half of the mines and a third of the manufacturers and financial services companies have implemented a voluntary counselling and testing programme, less than one in six of the respondents in the other four sectors have done so."
The survey covered the mining, financial services, manufacturing, motor trade, wholesale, building and constructing and retail sectors.
It found that about 21 percent of mines and 15 percent of financial services companies provided anti-retroviral therapy at the workplace, but 10 percent or less of the respondents in the other sectors funded treatment.
A report by the International Labour Organisation issued in July said the AIDS pandemic cost South Africa more than 70 billion dollars in the 10 years to 2002.
041125
AF0411B1
©AFP 2004.. All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2004. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2004 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
