Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cresent Societies - 24 September 2003
"Businesses operating in African countries, both local and multinational, are creating their own HIV/AIDS workplace programmes. They are responding to an increasingly difficult situation when more and more of their workforce is becoming HIV positive," the head of the Federation's East Africa regional delegation, Fran oise Le Goff, said on the fringes of the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) in Nairobi.
"There are only experimental insurance schemes available for African employers today. This has to be changed, and it has to be changed urgently," Le Goff stressed. "We cannot wait. The very foundation of some African economies is already crumbling."
In four African countries - Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Lesotho - over 30 per cent of all adults are HIV-positive. A second tier of countries at serious risk includes Kenya, South Africa and Zambia. In Kenya, for example, up to three quarters of all deaths in the police force are believed to be AIDS-related.
The Red Cross Red Crescent has already developed a number of workplace HIV/AIDS programmes for its own staff, while the Kenya Red Cross Society has created similar peer education training packages that commercial companies can access.
For further information, or to set up interviews, please contact:
In Nairobi: Pekka Reinikainen, Information delegate Tel +254 733 807 729 Andrei Neacsu, Regional information delegate Tel +254 2271 5426 / +254 2 715 087
In Geneva: Roy Probert, Press Officer Tel: +41 22 730 4428 / +41 79 217 3357 Duty Phone Tel: + 41 79 416 3881
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