AIDS Relief: A number of large companies are offering programs to help
employees with HIV/AIDs, according to a recent report by the Conference
Board.
Eighty-two percent of the 134 major firms surveyed have HIV/AIDS programs for
employees who already have the disease or are at risk of infection. More than
two-thirds of employers in the survey have been affected by HIV/AIDS, with
one-fifth of these firms anticipating a growing impact of this epidemic during
the next three years.
More than 90 percent of firms plan to maintain or increase their spending on
HIV/AIDS over the coming years. Firms with operations in sub-Saharan Africa,
where the disease is prevalent, lead in planned spending increases.
Across the globe, the number of individuals with HIV rose from 29 million in
2001 to 33.2 million in 2007. Forty percent of new cases are among individuals
ages 15-24, the stage of life at which employees are just entering the workforce
and will require ever greater medical care throughout their working lives.
“In response to this new reality, and faced with an expected growth of new
infections, more companies have been stepping up efforts to provide programs
that effectively meet the needs of their employees living with the disease, or
the risk of infection,” said Henry Silvert, research associate at the Conference
Board and author of the report, in a press release.
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