Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - August 17, 2003

BMW South Africa has reached a record level of voluntary HIV/Aids testing and counselling in the past 16 months. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Health Initiative, it is the highest recorded level of voluntary testing among corporates worldwide.

To date, 2 302 employees, or 75% of the workforce of 3 065 employees at the Rosslyn manufacturing plant outside Pretoria and the company's head office in Midrand have been tested for their HIV status.

The company reports that 6% of the tested workforce (140 people) are HIV-positive.

Ian Robertson, BMW SA's managing director, said this week that 28 people were on prescribed antiretroviral medication. He said the costs of treating HIV-positive employees were a fraction of what they would be if nothing at all were done.

The status testing started on April 1 2002, when Robertson and senior managers took the lead by being publicly tested and encouraging their colleagues to do the same, in a bid to treat the epidemic as an open issue and prevent discrimination.

He said this week that the company offered full treatment to any employees willing to come forward.

Says Dr Natalie Mayet, head of BMW's Occupational Health Services: "Our programme focuses on individual responsibility and each and every one of our employees is being developed as an HIV/Aids-prevention advocate.

"Knowing one's status is key to getting treatment. Employees have taken ownership of our drive against HIV/Aids and every individual who has been tested is making a difference and is an inspiration to colleagues. The culture of trust between our employees, the company's medical staff and management has also played a major role in the success of our testing programme."

BMW SA has developed a "wellness programme" to support employees who are HIV- positive and assist them to lead productive lives. The occupational health staff provide nutritional supplements, advice on nutrition, lifestyle and exercise, and assist with health monitoring and psychological support.

A psychologist visits the plant twice a week and continues with family counselling off-site if required. The company claims that 96% of all HIV-positive employees visit the clinic regularly and respond positively to the offer of help.

HIV-positive employees and their dependants also receive treatment through the BMW clinical disease management programme called Aid for AIDS.

Employees who become too ill to work are enrolled into an incapacity programme and receive 75% of their salary . "The aim is to reintegrate employees into the workplace. Employees are valuable assets, and they are welcome to rejoin the workforce when they are well enough to do so," a spokesman said.

BMW puts a strong emphasis on "holistic wellness". A biokinetic centre is being established at the plant, where all employees will be prescribed exercise and training and have the opportunity to attend classes on such topics as nutrition and financial fitness.

At the beginning of 2002, BMW SA entered into a public-private partnership with Sequa, an agency of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development that provided funding for a community-based care centre.

A site is being identified in Soshanguve, a community of about 700 000 near BMW's Rosslyn plant, where about 17% of all BMW employees live.

The planned facility will provide HIV/Aids information, counselling, a testing centre, a health-services clinic, skills-development project facilities and micro businesses.

HIV/Aids testing and counselling services are also provided to residents of the remote, rural village of Ndonga in the Eastern Cape province, where BMW constructed primary healthcare facilities and a school in 2001.

BMW South Africa initiated a campaign against HIV/Aids at the end of 2000 to reduce the impact of the disease on employees, their families and the company.

This followed a workplace study based on Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices research conducted by the University of Pretoria to determine the level of knowledge about the disease, the attitudes of employees and the kinds of practices that influence behaviour.

BMW SA's Aids programme has been posted as a case study on the World Economic Forum's website (http://www.weforum. org/globalhealth/cases).

In July 2003, the programme was highly commended as "best practice" by the New York-based Global Business Coalition dedicated to fighting the HIV/Aids epidemic. The coalition is an alliance of 114 international businesses with over four million employees in 178 countries.

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