Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 2/11/2004

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U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network

CONTENT:

1 - EAST AFRICA: Firms ignoring threat of HIV/AIDS on employees, says

study

2 - SUDAN: First HIV/AIDS voluntary testing and counselling centre opens

in Juba

1 - EAST AFRICA: Firms ignoring threat of HIV/AIDS on employees, says

study

NAIROBI, 11 February (PLUSNEWS) - Although HIV/AIDS is considered the most

serious health and development issue in East Africa, the scourge is yet to

become a major issue for leading business firms in the region.

Only a few firms in the region have a formal HIV/AIDS policy, and just

over half have HIV prevention programmes for their employees, a new survey

conducted in four countries by Pricewaterhouses, a leading audit

consulting firm HAS found.

The 2003 survey examined the private sector's responses in the context of

curbing the pandemic. Entitled " HIV/AIDS: What is business doing? " , it was

based on interviews conducted between July and September last year with

managers of 216 companies in various sectors in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania,

and Zambia.

The findings showed that most companies had not attempted to establish the

prevalence of HIV among their staff. Those prepared to hazard a guess

tended to be overoptimistic with regard to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS

among their staff, the study noted.

" This lack of insight is despite the fact that many companies are

reporting deaths due to HIV/AIDS, " the report stated. " In some cases,

organisations have been badly affected by AIDS-related mortality. However,

most companies do not appreciate that mortality of between 1 and 2 percent

per annum may signify a high level of HIV/AIDS infection, " it said.

Most organisations reported having lost less than 5 percent of their

workforce to HIV/AIDS in the last five years, a figure much lower than the

overall prevalence rates in the respective countries.

The rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence in the four countries vary, with official

figures showing prevalence among pregnant women in Kenya, Tanzania and

Zambia raging between 10 and 25 percent. Only in Uganda, which is

considered a unique case in Africa, has prevalence been brought down to

6.4 percent in 2001, having peaked at 21 percent in 1991.

These findings meant that firms in the region are yet to acknowledge the

potential threat HIV/AIDS had on their business, the study noted. It urged

firms in the region to shift from their current " overly optimistic "

attitude, and adopt a " healthy dose of realism " towards HIV/AIDS

prevalence among their employees, and thereby respond more effectively to

the pandemic.

" Organisations in general are overly optimistic and work on an assumption

that they have lower rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence, " the study said. " It is

highly unlikely that the rate of HIV/AIDS prevalence deviates materially

in any company from the national profile. Until organisations accept more

realistic rates and perceive a more accurate extent of their problem,

little will be done to tackle it, " it added.

According to the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO}, at least 26

million of the 42 million people around the world infected with HIV are

workers aged between 15 and 49 - in the prime of their working lives.

The ILO, which also has established a Code of Practice for HIV/AIDS in the

workplace, has recognised HIV/AIDS as a workplace issue, not only because

it affects their productivity but also because the workplace is considered

to be vital in curbing the impact of the pandemic.

[ENDS]

2 - SUDAN: First HIV/AIDS voluntary testing and counselling centre opens

in Juba

NAIROBI, 11 February (PLUSNEWS) - Sudan's first free voluntary counselling

and testing (VCT) centre for HIV/AIDS is being established in Juba, a

southern garrison town.

The centre would be fully up and running by the end of March, with

possible testing available before that, Simona Seravesi, the HIV/AIDS

inter-agency focal point in Juba, told IRIN. Meanwhile, the centre is

being equipped, and guidelines written for six local counsellors, all of

whom will have to be trained.

The initial emphasis would be on prevention, she added, with an emphasis

on researching high-risk groups around Juba, as well as customs and

beliefs helping to spread the virus. " There will not only be counselling

within the VCT. We want to reach the whole community and outlying

villages, " she said.

If people tested positive they would be given information about health,

nutrition, not spreading the virus, and be referred to local health

centres and a support group for people living with HIV/AIDS, she said.

Supported by the Sudanese federal health ministry, UNAIDS and the World

Health Organisation, the VCT centre was officially opened on 28 January as

part of the " Juba Initiative " , which, it is hoped, will become a model for

the whole of southern Sudan.

Various testing facilities are already available in Sudan, but usually

cost US $10 per person - far beyond the means of most Sudanese.

To date, efforts to introduce VCTs in Sudan had been erratic and few, said

Hind Hassan, the Sudan focal point with UNAIDS, mainly due to a lack of

proper guidelines for counselling and testing, as well as the lack of

trained personnel. " However this is changing now as Sudan is now embarking

on a comprehensive national response to HIV/AIDS, and along with the

existing high-level political commitment to back up this national

response, many VCT's are planned to be established. "

The estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Sudan is between

450,000 and 600,000, although the reported number is only 12,000. Southern

Sudan was thought to have a higher prevalence than the north as a result

of conflict, frequent movement across borders, severe economic disparity

and poverty, said Hind.

Prevalence rates in Juba were not available, but among tea sellers, it was

reckoned to be about 10 percent, he added.

[ENDS]

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