CASE STUDY

"Know Your Status" HIV/AIDS Campaign: Anglo Coal

UNAIDS estimates that at the end of 2003, 5.3 million South Africans (21.5% of the adult population) were living with HIV. Believing voluntary counselling and testing is integral to an effective AIDS program, Anglo Coal created an AIDS Task Force to strategize an effective testing campaign.

First Aid

Anglo Coal detected the first HIV case in its ranks two decades ago. For 16 years, the company has actively addressed the disease within its workforce and throughout local communities in which it operates.

Its earliest comprehensive workplace policies focused on education, awareness, and prevention, and have been expanded in compliance with global workplace HIV/AIDS standards.

In addition to wellness, voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), antiretroviral therapy (ART), and gender-specific outreach programs, local mines now engage in community and governmental partnerships.

Flash Point

UNAIDS estimates that at the end of 2003, 5.3 million South Africans (21.5% of the adult population) were living with HIV.

In 2004, the South African Department of Health study researched 16,000 women attending antenatal clinics across nine provinces. It found the highest prevalence rates in KwaZulu Natal, Gauteng, and Mpumalanga, which had a rate of 30.8%.

In 2005, the South African National HIV Survey found that 15.2% of Mpumalanga’s residents aged 2 years and older were HIV-positive, the second highest overall prevalence rate by province.

Anglo Coal's Response

Believing voluntary counseling and testing is integral to an effective AIDS program, Goedehoop created an AIDS Task Force to strategize an effective testing campaign.

Comprised of management and union representatives as well as people living with HIV/AIDS, the task force launched extensive "Know Your Status" campaigns in August 2003. Early response was tepid—only 5% of the workforce was tested—but the task team realized that AIDS is a sensitive subject that mandates creativity and perseverance.

Goedehoop leaders set specific goals for each World AIDS Day, vowing to encourage all employees to be tested by Dec. 1 and reduce the number of new infections to zero. VCT leadership also introduced "Oraquick Toothbrush" (swab tests) as a quick and painless alternative to blood tests.

Today, the Goedehoop Testing Campaign has seen significant improvement: At the end of 2005, 96% of the company’s workforce underwent free VCT.

To stress the importance of an annual HIV test, the company sets its “testing counter” to zero at the end of every year. Workers who test positive are guaranteed confidentiality, provided ARV treatment, and required to visit an onsite clinic for monthly checkups, CD4 count monitoring, and viral load tests.

Case study provided courtesy of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC), which honors outstanding business action on HIV/AIDS at its Annual Awards for Business Excellence Gala. Anglo American has been a GBC member company since November 2001.

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CASE STUDY DETAILS

Published
03 March 2008
Company
Anglo American
Location
Africa

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