Kenyan business slow in tackling HIV/AIDS

Businesses in Kenya are not doing enough to combat HIV/AIDS at their workplace although they are fully aware the disease is affecting their bottom line, a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed on Friday.

Although some companies had developed policies to deal with the epidemic, their efforts have had minimal impact.

"On average, most companies are not taking any serious action to counter the effects of HIV/AIDS on the business," Charles Muchene, the country director for PricewaterhouseCoopers said at a news conference.

"Serious talk about the impact of HIV/AIDS on businesses is yet to get to the boardroom. The tone at the top is the key to success in addressing HIV/AIDS."

According to Kenyan officials, about 2 million of the roughly 30 million people in Kenya are infected with HIV and more than 200,000 Kenyans die from the disease each year.

Kenyan corporate leaders interviewed in the survey last year said they found it difficult to convince their boards to spend more money fighting the disease, given that the boards are primarily interested in projects that grow the business.

Experts say HIV/AIDS poses a big risk to business because it affects the bottom line through declining sales, high labour costs, declining productivity, absenteeism and loss of skills.

But so far there are no actual figures to show the real impact of HIV/AIDS on Kenyan business, Muchene said.

A spokesman Abel Nyagwa for the government's National AIDS control Council said the business community had shown some improvement since last year when they joined government efforts to combat the disease and more companies are now offering antiretroviral treatment to their employees.

"There has been some improvement, it is only that it has not achieved much because this efforts started only last year," Nyagwa said.

Muchene said companies need to do more by creating awareness, pursuing non-discriminatory policies, providing medical support for employees, and family and involvement in community support.

"The fight against HIV/AIDS is not just a governmental problem - it requires collective social response, including the private sector," Muchene said.

The survey titled "The Business Community Response to HIV/AIDS in Kenya", is a follow up to another broader study that PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted in 2003 involving 216 companies in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. The 2003 study revealed just over half of the companies that participated in the study had developed a HIV/AIDS prevention programmes or formal policies.