HIV/AIDS in the Workplace

In 2007, more than 82 percent of companies globally had prevention and/or treatment programs, up from 73 percent in 1997. The challenges to such programs, whether they are in low-prevalence areas such as North America and Western Europe or high-prevalence sub-Saharan Africa, are the same: lack of funds and personnel and corporate and employee resistance. Benefits of AIDS/HIV programs are hard to quantify, but companies who invest in them from the top down and whose C-suite executives lead in their development will find benefits in increased morale and decreased absenteeism, as well as a potential boost to the bottom line.