Sunday Times - Sunday, 30 November, 2003
Janette Bennett

That uptake is higher than any figure recorded by any other company anywhere in the world, and it has been acknowledged as such by the World Economic Forum's Global Health Initiative. In July, BMW SA's programme was highly commended as a best practice by the Global Business Coalition on HIV and Aids, an alliance of businesses in 178 countries.

In just 20 months, 2,611 of about 3,000 employees at BMW SA's Rosslyn manufacturing plant outside Pretoria and its Midrand head office have chosen to know their HIV status. The target is 100%.

"No one is anywhere near our level of testing as far as I know," Robertson says. "The exception may be cases of anonymous testing, which give a statistic and a risk analysis, but do not allow the company to do anything about it."

Voluntary counselling and testing, as opposed to compulsory or anonymous testing, enables the employee to actively take control of his or her health and enables the company to offer holistic care and support to HIV-positive employees.

Robertson, a board member of the South African Business Coalition on HIV/Aids, helped his company's VCT campaign kick off in April last year by being publicly tested. He remains integrally involved and has personally helped to roll out the programme to BMW suppliers and dealers.

The norm, for many companies, is to hive off their HIV/Aids programme to a specific department, with executives rarely knowing what is happening.

"It's not a public relations or human resources issue," Robertson says. "It's an issue that is fundamental to the success of our company. We treat HIV/Aids as we treat any other business challenge. It is very much part of our business, and all our managers address it as that."

He's also aware that if the top person in an organisation is seen to put his or her weight behind an issue, it is far more likely to be taken seriously. "I have ultimate responsibility for the ongoing success of this business, and the way we handle HIV/Aids is part of that. More importantly, I have responsibility for my people, and that extends beyond work."

In 2001, it cost BMW about R500,000 to implement its HIV/Aids strategy - which shows that it doesn't demand piles of money to get it right. "The costs of not facing HIV/Aids are far higher," Robertson says.

"Anyway, costs are dropping as drug prices drop and treatments become more successful. Money is not the issue - there are hundreds of millions of dollars out there for Aids programmes. The issue is capacity and the wherewithal to spend the money, and the passion to do something about it.

"Even on capacity, there is plenty of guidance available. The coalition, for one, has developed a tool kit on how to do it.

"Unfortunately, too many companies put [HIV/Aids] into the too-hard-to-handle pile. I'm staggered when I see some of the statistics on what is not happening in South Africa, how few companies even have programmes in place."

VCT is one important part of BMW's multi-pronged HIV/Aids programme. It began in 2000 with a knowledge, attitudes and practices study, conducted by the University of Pretoria. "It showed very high levels of awareness and knowledge, which was a good foundation on which to build," Robertson says.

An awareness campaign followed, focusing on practicalities, for instance, negotiating condom use with a partner.

A team made up with people from human resources, the trade unions, medical practitioners and management, was appointed to drive the process under the chairmanship of a senior board member. A smaller working group which reports to the board manages ongoing initiatives and activities.

The company knows some 30,000 condoms are distributed every month from 100 condom dispensers managed by two publicly declared HIV-positive people. This is roughly 10 condoms per employee, compared with just three a person six months ago.

The programme's broad aims are to reduce the impact of the disease on employees, their families and the company. It focuses on self-responsibility and taking ownership of the disease by knowing one's HIV status, hence the focus on testing.

It is also targeted at specific groups, such as women, whose physiology and socioeconomic position make them more likely than men to contract HIV. A women's forum is in place.

An important aspect is peer education. Sixty volunteers have been trained as peer educators, who provide support and information to their colleagues.
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