What is at stake in the fight against HIV/AIDS in African companies?

The impact of the HIV epidemic on the functioning of companies has become a matter for concern in Africa, given that the continent has the highest rates of infection in the world. It is expected that economic activity will be affected, since HIV and HIV-related deaths are particularly prevalent among the most productive age groups. The disruption is most apparent in increased production costs and, to a lesser extent, in higher staff turnover. Rising absentee ism and staff turnover rates affect the transmission of skills and disrupt routines and the socialisation of staff to the detriment of the smooth functioning of the workplace. Confronted with such constraints, companies have adopted a number of practical strategies, such as excluding HIV-infected staff and job applicants, and conducting HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns in the workplace. Other measures have also been noted, such as the curtailing of social benefits, in particular access to care for employees. However, these exclusion and cost-cutting strategies are incompatible with the need to preserve specific skills and the company's memory, both of which require measures which are designed to keep qualified employees at work as long as possible and hence which facilitate access to care.