HIV/AIDS Workplace Interventions

Paper presented at the AAU Conference of Rectors, Vice Chancellors and Presidents of African Universities, 2003. The paper examines the situation of HIV/AIDS globally, and in Africa. The central message of the paper is that higher education institutions must develop a comprehensive HIV prevention programme which runs through and drives each of the following: HIV/AIDS policy and strategy development; developing culturally appropriate prevention messages; tackling socio-economic factors; establishing partnerships; sustaining awareness and education; challenging denial and stigma; situating prevention in a community context; linking care to prevention; rigorous scientific reflection.

This report aims to provide assistance to business and associated partners in recognising the business case for further action against HIV/AIDS in the workplace and beyond. This is achieved through providing evidence of the impact that HIV/AIDS has on business activities and by highlighting the lessons learned from past and current responses. Guidance is provided in the form of policy tools, case studies and an examination of how to undertake successful partnerships in response to HIV/AIDS. This publication does not seek to provide standard models but tools to guide effective, efficient and needs-specific responses to HIV/AIDS.

There has been little research on HIV incidence or prevalence among hospital staff worldwide, and even less on modes of transmission among those infected. Recent evidence from South Africa suggests that HIV prevalence among health care personnel may not differ greatly from the general population. This evaluation study describes the significant effect of HIV morbidity and mortality among the workers in Zambia’s health care system. [adapted from introduction]

HIV/AIDS mainstreaming has traditionally been equated with adjusting programs to be more relevant to beneficiaries affected by HIV/AIDS. Bitter experience is demonstrating, however, that civil society organizations (CSOs) are not immune to the impacts of AIDS within their own organizations. Few local CSOs are responding adequately to this threat, partly because they simply do not know the extent of these costs. This paper suggests how CSOs in sub-Saharan Africa can build organizational resilience in order to survive the loss of valuable staff, time and money that HIV/AIDS will cause. It also concludes with practical recommendations for their donors in how they can move beyond being concerned bystanders. [publisher’s description]

Four articles by separate authors on institutional responses and policies for managing HIV/AIDS in Africa, with specific emphasis on the role of tertiary institutions, such as schools and colleges. The articles are not specific to health training institutions, but are relevant to this context.

The handbook is a resource collection of information sheets and participatory activities for NGOs working on HIV/AIDS who want to work towards a greater involvement of people living with HIV (GIPA) in their work. It aims at sensitising NGOs, building individual skills and organisational capacities so that NGO management, staff and volunteers can discuss and plan together in a participatory way how to meaningfully involve people living with HIV in their organisation. [from introduction]

This article describes an HIV care program including ART in an industrial setting in South Africa. The program uses guidelines derived from local and international best practice. The training component aims to build capacity among health care staff. The model may be generalizable to other employment health services in settings of high HIV prevalence, and as a model for implementing ART in other types of health-care settings. [publisher’s description]

This study provides evidence on the cost of providing HAART to health care workers and suggests that this strategy could reduce absenteeism and alleviate future staff shortages at moderate cost to hospitals. This is crucial, given the impending human resources crisis in health care in South Africa and the growing burden of HIV/AIDS. These cost estimates should be good indicators of the costs of extending antiretroviral therapy to health care workers in public-sector hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal. [author’s description]

The safety of heath care workers (HCWs) who take care of people with HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases is of paramount importance. Occupational transmission of blood borne infections is not regarded as a common problem in developed country settings, but this is not the case in resource poor countries where the incidence and impact of such exposures is under-reported and is now becoming appreciated as an important risk factor for HCWs. It is generally assumed that protection from occupational exposures requires expensive equipment which is not reasonable for resource poor healthcare services.

This issue of AIDS Action discusses the impact of HIV on health workers, reducing risk at work, health workers with HIV and the role of district management.

This action guide offers practical guidance on creating or expanding HIV/AIDS workplace programs for civil services. Human resource managers, employee welfare managers, medical officers and labor representatives in government ministries and agencies can use the guide to design and develop effective and appropriate HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support programs. Public Sector Workforce is intended to be a basic reference tool. Users can select chapters to assist with specific aspects of an HIV/AIDS program. Checklists are included for assessing the effects of HIV/AIDS on a particular workplace and for developing HIV/AIDS workplace policies or programs. There are also suggested resources for more assistance. [publisher’s description]

As part of the African Growth and Opportunitues Forum, this paper addresses how African businesses are responding to the HIV/AIDS crisis. It is imperative that businesses take immediate action to lessen the economic and social consequences of HIV/AIDS. If they take action, businesses can ensure that economic initiatives, such as the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) will succeed in stimulating economic growth in Africa. While both the public and private sector should have HIV/AIDS policies and programs, this paper addresses only the private business sector response to the epidemic. However, many of the actions, best practices, and conclusions discussed in this paper are also applicable to public sector policies and programs.

The objectives of this presentation are to: describe the context of HIV/AIDS in Zambia, describe key findings from a study to evaluate nurses’ and midwives’ knowledge of HIV/AIDS, review the study’s implications for action, and propose steps to advance workplace programs.

To view this presentation, you must have either Microsoft PowerPoint or download the free PowerPoint Viewer.

This toolkit includes a collection of HRM resources and links assembled for the Global Health 2005 conference. Most of the resources are in Microsoft Word format and provide guidance on how to develop a variety of HRM documents or processes. Topics covered include supervision, hiring and recruitment, HR policies, and HIV Workplace Programs and training. [publisher’s description]

Published lessons learned from high HIV prevalence countries suggest that there are several key lessons available for any organisation that wishes to embark on an internal HIV/AIDS policy development process. This report contains first-hand experience by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs on its HIV/AIDS policy development process, plus comparative examples from various organisations. [from executive summary]

The objective of this code is to provide a set of guidelines to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world of work and within the framework of the promotion of decent work. The guidelines cover the following key areas of action: prevention of HIV/AIDS; management and mitigation of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the world of work; care and support of workers infected and affected by HIV/AIDS; elimination of stigma and discrimination on the basis of real or perceived HIV status. [from preface]

The manual is designed to help the ILO’s partners understand the issues and apply the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. The Code is at the core of the ILO’s Programme on HIV/AIDS, providing guidance to governments, employers and workers, as well as other stakeholders, on national action plans and workplace policies and programmes to combat HIV/AIDS.

The Interactive Company Case Studies Database was designed primarily for company managers wishing to establish their own [HIV/AIDS] workplace programs and who wish to learn from the experiences of other employers. A range of workplace programs are thus presented to inform companies of the available options - not theoretical, but tried and applied methods. This resource is not intended for comparison and assessment.

The companies participating in this initiative have shared information on their programs - some of the companies have provided extensive and previously unavailable data - to promote greater business action in the workplace. [publisher’s description]

The ILO and the WHO decided to join forces in order to assist health services in building their capacities to provide their workers with a safe, healthy and decent working environment, as the most effective way both to reduce transmission of HIV and other blood-borne pathogens and to improve the delivery of care to patients. This is essential when health service workers have not only to deliver normal health-care services but also to provide HIV/AIDS services and manage the long-term administration and monitoring of anti-retroviral treatments (ART) at a time when, in many countries, they are themselves decimated by the epidemic.

This study aims to examine the range of impacts the [HIV/AIDS] pandemic has had on selected NGO partners of Oxfam operating in South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and to make recommendations useful to NGOs, including Oxfam, donors, and policy-makers based on its results. [author’s description]

This series provides evaluative case studies of some industry and private sector responses to HIV/AIDS in the past several years. The publications showcase companies that conceived and executed creative and effective programs in the categories of workplace, community, core competency, national action, testing and counseling, and leadership. The winning programs all exemplify best practices and represent the cutting edge of current industry engagement in both established and emerging economies. [adapted from author]

The Lesotho apparel industry is the country’s largest private sector employer. By providing employment for poor and relatively unskilled workers, most of whom are women, this industry is combating two of the key long-term drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic: poverty and gender inequity. However, it is precisely this sector of the community, young women, who have the highest prevalence of HIV infection. Studies within the apparel sector show that around one third of employees are HIV-positive. Apart from the huge toll in human suffering associated with this high infection level, the epidemic also lowers productivity and increases costs to the employer. The Lesotho government is committed to providing a comprehensive response to HIV/AIDS, including the provision of antiretroviral treatment (ART) but, because of a lack of financial and human resources, only about 8 000 Basotho are receiving treatment at present. It is estimated that about 60 000 Basotho require ART. For all these reasons, a range of stakeholders wished to determine the feasibility of a private sector led long-term intervention (LTI) to reduce the HIV-infection rate among apparel workers and to provide care and support for those already infected. Towards this end consulting company HLSP was contracted to conduct this feasibility study and this report and specific recommendations are the outcome of the project. [author’s description]

Research conducted by Horizons and partners in Zambia and Kenya shows that health providers and teachers have unmet HIV prevention and care needs, and that they can benefit from workplace programs that include education about and promotion of VCT. [from author]

Swaziland has taken the lead in caring for overburdened health workers with the opening of the first Wellness Centre in Manzini for them and their families. This article reports on this innovative response to the deepening crisis in human resources for health in sub-Saharan Africa. [adapted from author]

HIV counselling and testing is a key component of both HIV care and HIV prevention, but uptake is currently low. We investigated the impact of rapid HIV testing at the workplace on uptake of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). [author’s description]

Many companies recognize the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a serious threat to productivity and profitability. [This guide] provides practical steps for developing and implementing workplace prevention and care programs that will serve both employees and managers. [from introduction]