Every employee has the right to work with dignity, and without fear of stigma or rejection. This is inherent to our value of care and respect, and is just one of the reasons why Anglo American is recognised as a corporate leader in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
Besides managing the largest HIV/AIDS workplace prevention, counselling, testing and treatment programme in the world, we were also the first major employer in Southern Africa to provide free anti-retroviral treatment (ART) to all its employees.
In a country with an estimated 5,6 million people living with HIV/AIDS, these are hardly accolades, but rather responsibilities that weigh heavily on our shoulders.
We believe that reducing the impact of this epidemic depends on people-focused solutions. We also understand that HIV/AIDS cannot be effectively managed when only one person receives care for a disease that affects the entire family. This is why, in 2008, we extended our HIV/AIDS response from the workplace to include employees’ dependants.
It is just one more step in a journey that started more than 14 years ago, when HIV/AIDS was already a priority receiving high-level participation from management.
Since then, more than 80% of our employees have participated in voluntary HIV counselling and testing, and around half of the estimated 11,400 HIV-positive employees at our southern African core business operations are participating in HIV disease management programmes. Of these, around 3,100 employees are using ART drugs to help manage the disease.
One of the strongholds of HIV/AIDS action in our South African businesses, remains Thermal Coal, which has halved the incidence rate of new infections in the past five years, with some 94% of its permanent employees being tested since the inception of its HIV counselling and voluntary confidential testing programme. This business unit also manages a successful Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission programme, which has celebrated the birth of 60 HIV-negative babies since it began in 2006.
In 2009, these efforts were recognised when our Thermal Coal Business was named one of the winners at the Global Business Coalition (GBC) Annual Business Excellence Awards, for its holistic approach towards tackling HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
Despite these achievements, the journey is by no means over. We are very aware that no single company can tackle this epidemic alone, and we continue to partner with government and NGOs to ensure the most effective response to the disease possible.
One of our toughest challenges remains how to bring about real change in areas previously under-serviced by government programmes. To this end, we conduct comprehensive socio-economic assessments in communities linked to our operations, and develop social management plans and programmes aimed at building capacity for comprehensive HIV/AIDS services. These are strongly supported through our Anglo American Chairman’s Fund, which committed R10 million in 2008 to health and HIV/AIDS-related services in disadvantaged South African communities.
All these activities come together to support a common goal: and that is to provide our people with free access to the medical services, support and care they need in order to make informed, confidential decisions for them and their families, regarding their HIV status and – where necessary – treatment. But all of this is only possible due to the hard work and passion of all of our people, people like Johan Abrie, who along with thousands of others, enable us to help those who really need it.
This also means creating a work environment in which every employee can continue to do his or her work free from any form of discrimination, while enjoying the rights, working conditions, benefits and respect that they deserve.
