Wall Street Journal - April 16, 2002
Mark Schoofs, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

When it disclosed its plans for the study a year ago, Anglo garnered wide praise because it was one of the first major corporations to reveal measures aimed at treating AIDS cases among its rank-and-file African employees. With 125,000 workers in Africa, the London-based mining conglomerate is one of the biggest employers on the continent.

The goal of the proposed study was to see if providing AIDS drugs, called antiretrovirals, would be feasible given the high cost of the life-long therapy and the harsh working conditions on many Anglo mines. The company has estimated that about 20% of its African workforce is infected with HIV, the AIDS virus. The company's new decision, apparently taken on April 3, is likely to be seen as a setback in the effort to provide AIDS treatment in Africa, where hopes have been increasingly pinned on the private sector.

"This is bad news for the [mining] industry and bad news for AIDS in South Africa," said Alan Whiteside, an economist at the University of Natal who has written widely on AIDS in South Africa. "If Anglo can't do it," he said, "who will?"

Anglo spokesman Michael Spicer declined to comment on whether the company had canceled the in-house feasibility study developed by Anglo medical officers. "We have not abandoned the idea of pilot studies," he said, "and we are seeking to progress these on a broader basis, and we are in discussions with partners to do that."

Anglo might propose an industrywide study to South Africa's powerful industry association, the Chamber of Mines, as early as this Friday, when the Chamber's executive committee is expected to meet.

Joining with other companies would mark a sharp change for Anglo. Ten months ago, Anglo Chief Executive Tony Trahar said in an interview, "We've committed to developing eight pilot sites to test antiretroviral therapy."

He added, "We're in the forefront here and we're quite happy to take the lead."

Mr. Trahar noted many potential pitfalls in providing AIDS drugs, such as whether to keep providing the medicine after employees leave the company.

But Mr. Trahar and other Anglo officials said last year that the feasibility study was designed to answer such questions.

AngloGold CEO Robert "Bobby" Godsell was on vacation and couldn't be reached by telephone. In an e-mail, he said, "We're making very heavy weather of the pilot study, with a variety of obstacles relating to both industry and national politics, as well as very limited support from drug companies." He also said, "We will continue to try and develop common policy approaches with other companies, with the labor movement and with government."

Write to Mark Schoofs at mark.schoofs@wsj.com
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