IFC Against AIDS Protecting People and Profitability Bangkok, September 12, 2005
Why does IFC take AIDS seriously? What is the “business case”? Risk factors for private sector operations What can companies do? “IFC Against AIDS” Apollo Tyres program in India Session Outline
Why IFC Takes AIDS Seriously A priority for the development community 95% of people infected live in developing countries Most companies not aware of risks Companies don’t know where to start An integral part of IFC’s commitment to sustainable development
Reputation risk Financial impact Threat to company’s viability The Business Case: Three categories of risks
The Reputation Risk
The Financial Risk: Impact on the Bottom Line Medical and other benefits costs Absenteeism and lower productivity Labor turnover, recruitment and training costs Loss of experienced personnel Impacts on the enabling environment Shrinking markets
Harvard Business Review, February 2003: The annual "AIDS tax" on business was as much as 5.9% of the corporations' labor costs Workplace AIDS programs would reduce this “AIDS tax” by as much as 40.4% The Financial Risk: Impact on the Bottom Line
Chilanga, Zambia’s largest cement factory saw a 15-fold increase in funeral-related absenteeism between 1992 and Source: Bloom et al Source: Galloway et al A major industrial company based in KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa recorded a 31% increase in the number of ill-health retirements between 1995 and 1997; of these retirements, 17% of them were due to AIDS. The Financial Risk: Impact on the Bottom Line
Risk to the Viability of Small Enterprises A study of 209 small businesses in South Africa identified HIV/AIDS as one of the three main factors that cause nearly 80% of South African start-up SMEs to fail every year Source: S. Eeden et al. – 2001
Risk factors for private sector operations Workforce separated from families for long periods of time: Transportation, mining, construction, agribusiness Migrant labor, seasonal labor Transit areas Employees’ salaries higher than surrounding community The company relies on key jobs/individuals Large workforce
What can companies do? Getting started and organized: the foundations of a program Awareness, education and prevention in the workplace HIV/AIDS in clinical settings and occupational health and safety Partnerships and community outreach Monitoring and evaluation
Getting started and organized
Awareness, education and prevention
HIV/AIDS in clinical settings and OH&S
Partnerships and community outreach
Monitoring and evaluation
IFC Against AIDS Awareness Guidance Training Financing Goal: Accelerate the involvement of private sector in the fight against AIDS
IFC Against AIDS Serving IFC clients Focus on sub-saharan Africa and India About 25 projects in Africa 152 companies trained in Africa One program in India (four companies to date) Development in Russia and China
Intranet website
External website
IFC Against AIDS Sabine Durier - Program Leader Tel: , Gillette Conner - Program Officer Tel: , Tish Enslin - Program Officer (Johannesburg) Tel: , Noleen Dube - Program Officer (Johannesburg) Tel: , Martin Lutalo - Program Analyst Tel: , Bojan Ermanoski - Program Assistant Tel: ,
“It is inevitable that a firm doing business in the developing world will pay for AIDS. It is just a question of when and how much.” Lee Smith Former President, Levi Strauss International