Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - Friday November 30, 2001
Jean Scheidnes
"We're asking companies to take greater responsibility for their own workplace first," Holbrooke, instrumental in brokering the 1995 Dayton, Ohio accords that brought peace to the Balkans, said in a telephone interview.
"We're not asking them to go out and save the world, we're just asking them to save their own employees," said Holbrooke, who became president and chief executive of the Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS in June.
The council, which advocates greater corporate involvement in the fight against HIV and AIDS, issued guidelines for senior company executives on Friday that call on firms not to discriminate against employees who have the disease.
The council suggested companies set up education and prevention programs, supply access to condoms, offer voluntary counseling and testing, and provide treatment for infected employees. Large companies should provide antiretroviral drug therapy if possible, the guidelines proposed.
The council has a particular focus on companies with interests in sub-Saharan Africa, where about 25 million of the world's 36 million people with HIV and AIDS live. Council member Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO - news), for example, employs 100,000 people in Africa, Holbrooke said.
He said he tried to show companies how fighting AIDS in the workplace was in their own best interests.
"I say 'look, you can't afford to keep hiring three workers for every two jobs because you're going to lose at least one of the three to AIDS'," Holbrooke said.
"What I'm testing is the limits of what we can ask corporations to do. Here's what's clear: corporations have not done a fraction of what they should in the war against AIDS in Africa and other highly affected areas.
"Here's what's not clear: how much can we legitimately ask them to do?"
Since taking the helm, Holbrooke has helped to nearly double the number of council members to over 30 and is aiming to have 200 by the end of next year.
Prior to his diplomatic career, Holbrooke spent 15 years on Wall Street, and now is vice chairman of Perseus, a New York-based private equity group.
The workplace program was funded by seed money from foundations run by Bill Gates, George Soros and Ted Turner, as well as council membership fees of $25,000 per year.
Members currently include AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news), American Express Co. (NYSE:AXP - news), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM - news), Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK - news), Unilever Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: ULVR.L) and Viacom (NYSE:VIA - news).
To promote implementation of the workplace guidelines, the council's executive director, Ben Plumley, plans to hold meetings with high-level government and business leaders in South Africa, Botswana and Kenya.
Saturday is World AIDS Day, a reminder that 20 years after the disease first emerged into the public consciousness, there is still no cure. Drugs can suppress the disease's effects, but they must be taken for life, and for many victims they are prohibitively expensive.
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