Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - May 6, 2001
Bobby Jordan

The South African Chamber of Business has plans for a scheme involving major corporations that would make HIV-Aids treatments widely, and cheaply, available;

The chamber's scheme would see 170 outlets established to dispense the drugs nationwide;

South Africa's largest company, Anglo American, plans to provide anti-Aids drugs to its workers, 20% of whom have the disease;

Anglo has met with Cipla, India's largest generic drug producer, in connection with its plans; and

Anglo has presented its Aids drugs plan to the National Union of Mineworkers for approval.

The chamber's plans involve top companies - which it declined to name - and will see the coordination of medical intervention and supplementary HIV-Aids treatment plans in the private sector. "The business plan is being conceptualised. We are all incredibly excited about it," said the chamber's policy consultant, Brian Wasmuth.

Clem Sunter, Anglo's head of corporate communication, confirmed the company had begun negotiating with drug companies for cheap drugs and had nearly completed drafting its treatment plan.

The drugs would either be provided for free or would be heavily subsidised by the company.

Sunter, who last week met for "informal talks" with prominent Aids activists, confirmed that union leaders were considering the proposal.

"We are going to try to nail all of this down in the next three to six months . . . but exactly when the button will be pressed, I cannot tell you," Sunter said. "I think people are now desperately looking for action. My view is that the private sector must just get on with it."

Department of Health spokesman Jo-Anne Collinge said: "The department has become aware indirectly of the proposals of some of the largest mining companies to provide anti-retroviral therapy to their employees." She said government could "learn" from the experiences of these companies.

Business leaders have warned that Aids will have a devastating economic impact and will require urgent intervention from government and the private sector. They say companies will have to train three people for every job because of the Aids death toll, projected to reach 500 000 a year by 2008.

Latest estimates are that there are at least 4.7 million infected South Africans, with another 1 500 being infected daily. Sunter said Anglo was facing the potential loss of 20% of its workforce to Aids.

Research has shown that providing drug treatment for HIV-positive workers would be cheaper than the costs incurred by absenteeism, loss of productivity, hospitalisation, funerals, and replacing and retraining staff.

National Union of Mineworkers HIV-Aids coordinator Lennox Mekuto said the union was considering Anglo's proposal, but it believed it should form part of a comprehensive programme that looked at treating mineworkers' families and changing behaviour.

"We are not against what they are proposing but we need more discussions on the issue. One can't just address the issue of drugs alone," Mekuto said.

Anglo's plan follows a similar initiative by Botswana-based mining company Debswana to provide treatment for its 6 000 employees. The company, whose workforce has a 28% infection rate, has agreed to subsidise treatment for each HIV-positive employee and spouse.

Anglo's plan has been welcomed by Aids activists who believe it challenges the state and other companies to follow suit.

Liesl Gerntholtz, a lawyer with Wits University's Aids Law Project, said: "This will encourage other companies to start thinking about the benefits of providing drug treatment rather than simply rejecting the possibility."

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