Cape Town — Panelists at an Africa-wide conference on the critical role of women and girls on the continent have urged businesses to support them in addressing the HIV/Aids crisis.
They also called on all women to get tested and empower themselves with knowledge about the pandemic.
Experts were speaking in a session on the role of business at "Vital Voices of Africa," a Pan-African leadership summit being held in Cape Town from January 15 to 19. During the conference, organised by the Vital Voices Global Partnership, based in Washington DC, participants will develop an action plan to address pressing issues facing the continent, including trade, economic development, good governance and violence against women.
In the opening session, Joelle Tanguy, Managing Director of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/Aids, TB and Malaria, said that 90% of people living with HIV were unaware of their status.
Eskom, South Africa's electricity provider, is one of very few companies which provide health care and assistance to employees infected with HIV/Aids and their families.
"We measure our success by the number of people in the organisation who know their status," said Mpho Letlape, managing director of the human resources division at Eskom.
Letlape stated that Eskom was not interested in whether or not its employees were HIV-positive; the company, however, was interested in knowing that they knew their status.
Some of the company's partnerships included health services, social services, trade unions and non-governmental organisations.
"We have tried to be as holistic as possible and have seen results," said Letlape.
Miriam Were, chair of the National Aids Control Council (NACC) in Kenya, said there are more women than men living with and affected by HIV/Aids. She suggested that a fund be launched to provide women living with HIV and Aids with money to support themselves.
Grietjie Strydom, former director of Alexander Forbes Health Management Services in South Africa, said the macro-economic impact of the pandemic is a big problem in the country.
In 1984 , the average truck driver had 14 years of experience. By 2000, that figure had dropped to four years and now it is less than a year.
Strydom argued that it is financially more beneficial for companies to treat infected employees than not to treat them. Companies tend to think that others would take care of them. "The private sector thinks that the government is helping," she said.
But this was often not the case and the perception needed to be broken, Strydom added. Companies should be encouraged to provide assistance for their employees living with HIV and Aids.
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In the United States, the average life expectancy is 75 years. In South Africa, it is less than 50 years. With no treatment, Strydom added, South Africans are being robbed of 25 years of their lives, whereas once they received treatment, they could have a positive impact on the economy.
Medication is not the only treatment for HIV/Aids; psychological therapy as well as mental and emotional support is also needed, Strydom stated.
There is a need for more programmes to empower women, she concluded. "HIV is way beyond a medical problem … It is now a tragedy." Nevertheless, "I do believe that there is a lot of hope in South Africa."
