ActionAIDS: HIV/AIDS is fast becoming a white-collar problem

Do skilled, white-collar employees know all they need to about HIV/AIDS? How do employers address this issue?

Studies conducted by the Harvard Centre for International Health and ING Barrings indicate that approximately 4% of SA`s highly-skilled workforce is currently HIV+ and that this percentage is expected to grow to 15% by 2010.

"Most of these people, however, have the perception that they are at a very low risk of contracting or being affected by the virus and are therefore not interested in learning more about its prevention, treatment, impact and workplace ethics," says Yoram Percale, CEO of Echoteq.

Echoteq, a subsidiary of Ovations Technologies, has launched ActionAIDS - a solution with a clean, factual look and feel - designed to equip skilled, PC-based employees with the crucial facts they require in order to protect themselves and their families. ActionAIDS goes further by addressing discriminatory workplace scenarios, which due to ignorance may result in employee litigation.

"ActionAIDS was created in consultation with experts in the medical and HIV/AIDS education fields. It is a non-invasive programme that, once implemented by a company, educates employees on various HIV/AIDS issues - at their desks via their PCs at times that suit them, through short, meaningful interactions with minimal impact on productivity," explains Percale.

"ActionAIDS offers educated, professional people additional information in a non-condescending manner. The programme was developed to stimulate discussion on real-world situations that take place regularly at home or at work," he continues.

The browser-based program runs off the company`s intranet server and automatically installs Macromedia Flash on every workstation. The program engages its audience by piquing their curiosity and starts with a few basic, general questions that give a good indication of the issues to be dealt with, for instance: Do you know all there is to know about HIV/Aids? Have you thought about workplace issues, your rights and HIV/AIDS, anti-retroviral drugs, or your children and HIV/AIDS?

What follows are 14 sections divided into four main topics - facts, prevention, treatment and society. Each section is comprised of an instruction mode where knowledge is conveyed in a highly engaging manner, and a testing mode where knowledge retention is assessed. Individual interactions are completely confidential, while a designated HR administrator has access to real-time reports indicating workforce progress and knowledge trends.

"ActionAIDS continually reinforces without being invasive and has been designed to create awareness and empower people to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS," says Percale. Some of the features of the program which help to achieve this goal are:

* Did you know? Whenever this option is activated, a new fact about HIV/AIDS is displayed on the screen.

* The privacy guarantee lets employees learn freely without being made to feel they are being watched.

* There is a comprehensive list of contact details of local clinics and help-lines.

* The scheduler allows employees to specify the frequency and times of interaction with the program so that they are not disrupted while they are busy.

* Screensavers reinforce crucial facts with the aim of promoting behavioural change.

* An HIV barometer gives a real-time estimate of the number of people in SA that have contracted the virus.

The Impending Catastrophe Revisited report, compiled by ABT Associates, cites a study conducted by the Harvard Centre for International Health which indicates that the impact of HIV/AIDS on profitability may be 2% to 6% of a company`s annual payroll. Moreover, the cost to a company for each HIV+ employee is anything from one to six times the annual salary of that employee.

If these figures are applied to a company with a workforce of 1 000 with an average salary of R125 000pa and a 10% annual increase, that company is likely to have 40 HIV+ employees this year, but by 2010 that number will have risen to 150. The impact on the company`s bottom line (working on three times the annual salary of each HIV+ employee) is R15 million, but by 2010 it could cost the company as much as R50 million to R100 million.

Using the same scenario, prevention of just a single HIV infection will save the company between R125 000 and R750 000, which is significantly more than the cost of implementing ActionAIDS throughout the entire organisation.

"ActionAIDS can work in conjunction with organisations` existing workshops and peer education programmes, it needn`t replace them. In fact, ActionAIDS is an excellent way to reinforce the message on an ongoing basis. In addition, it lets those organisations know where previous campaigns have been successful, and identifies where knowledge gaps exist," Percale concludes.