CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP

HIV/Aids

It is unnecessary in this annual report to describe the tragic effects of HIV/Aids in South Africa, and in Africa as a whole. An external party has assessed the impact which the pandemic is currently having, and is expected to have, on the Group. The HIV prevalence among AECI employees is estimated at 10 per cent. It is anticipated that this rate has peaked and will now begin a gradual decline.

Costs attributable to HIV/Aids are estimated at R13 million for 2007 (R14 million in 2006). These costs arise from paid sick leave, productivity losses, training and replacement expenses, disability processing expenses, and medical and funeral expenses. Costs are expected to rise, peaking at about R15 million in 2011. The delay in incurring costs, when compared with the prevalence rate, is due to the lag between infection and the development of serious symptoms.

The Group's interventions in the HIV/Aids arena concentrate on three main areas:

• training and awareness continues. Approaches range from newsletters and educational soap operas to intranet-based quizzes, plays and seminars. Knowledge and perception surveys are conducted from time to time, to target these interventions more accurately. Condoms are provided to employees at no cost to them. Peer educators are in place and have gained
  good levels of support, as a result of which they are having a significant impact in their workplaces;
• voluntary counselling and testing is available and is encouraged. It is an opportunity for one-on-one discussion of an individual’s situation, and provides the most effective way of communicating messages which are sometimes not properly conveyed;
• treatment is available for HIV-positive employees. Most employees and their dependants are members of medical aids, and have access to the “Aid for AIDS” programme. This provides a structure within which infected individuals can receive the best possible care.

Notwithstanding these interventions, there remains a serious stigma associated with being HIV-positive. All too often, infected individuals are only prepared to be tested and treated when they are already seriously ill. At this point, recovery to a reasonable level of health may take a substantial time, and is sometimes impossible.

AECI's people are one of its most important assets and, therefore, the Company remains committed to their holistic development, health and safety.