AIDS Threatens India’s Prosperity

[Guest guest]

AIDS Threatens India's Prosperity

Failure to rein in the epidemic could undermine India's growth and

affect its trading partners by Pramit Mitra

YaleGlobal, 30 November 2006

If present trends continue, economists worry that India's AIDS

pandemic could jeopardize its growing economy, which has made the

country one of the most sought-after destinations for Western

investors. Managers at Tata Steel, for instance, are keenly aware of

the experience in South Africa, where the AIDS pandemic has

drastically altered the economy by reducing the output of the

economically active population and forcing companies to substantially

increase health coverage for their workers. In a labor-intensive

industry like steel production, a full-blown HIV/AIDS pandemic could

severely reduce productivity and efficiency of operations, in addition

to degrading morale and workplace cohesion, forcing companies to hire

and train substitute workers at enormous costs. In addition, episodes

of illness have a negative impact on other members in the work team

and on the work process in general that cannot be quantified...

http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=8486