Latest statistics suggest that AIDS will have wiped out 20 percent of the world’s population by the year 2050, with some four million people falling victim to the killer disease in South Africa alone. AIDS is already leaving its devastating mark on the country, with grandparents left to raise their orphaned grandchildren, a lack of qualified teachers to fill the schools and a general depletion of skilled workers.

As companies struggle to adapt to the shortage of qualified workers, individual businesses across the country are increasingly having to deal with higher rates of absence and sickness, as well as low moral and production output. BMW South Africa is one of the companies which has recognized the importance of helping its employees to help and protect themselves.

Containing the epidemic

In a bid to prevent the disease reaching epidemic proportions within the confines of the company, BMW South Africa developed a far-reaching program which offers advice, counseling and voluntary AIDS tests to the company’s employees. Communications manager for BMW South Africa, Richard Carter, is pleased with the results.

“We are satisfied that our infection rate is less than the norm, and we believe the program from the last three or four years of getting people to know their status has really helped to keep the infection rate down, which is very gratifying for us, and very good for our work force,” Carter told Deutsche Welle.

Of the almost 3,000 BMW employees, some 85 percent have already volunteered to be tested. And of those, some 6.5 percent have proved to be infected with the HIV virus, which is significantly lower than the standard 20 percent infection rate in the South African workforce. But actually convincing people to take the test in the first place required BMW to create an atmosphere of trust.

“People are a little worried about going for the test, particularly if they think they might be positive. They don’t want to hear the bad news. But it isn’t a death sentence, you can in fact live with the virus and have it controlled,” Carter explains.

Startling research

In order to develop the program, it was important for BMW to find out what employees' opinions about AIDS are. A study commissioned from the University of Pretoria revealed -- to BMW's astonishment -- how many false assumptions were still attached to HIV and AIDS. Some believed that the disease could be transmitted by simply exchanging a glance or a kiss with a carrier.

The results of the study sparked BMW into offering their employees a year of different educational seminars and courses around the subject of AIDS. The company had to convince employees that if they went for a test, their results would remain confidential, that BMW would pay for their treatment, and that they would not lose their jobs.

Learning from each other

A team of experts, including a doctor, nurse and psychologist, worked together to come up with the program. They created voluntary counselling positions for employees who wanted to help their colleagues learn and understand more about the epidemic. The strategy has been popular, as it removes some of the fear which many employees experience when faced with having to talk to managers or doctors about the disease.

Carter is particularly concerned about younger, unmarried employees between the ages of 18 and 26. “These are all very high risk groups and we specifically target them by bringing speakers in who are young people living with AIDS, who can speak to the youngsters in the company in their own language, not just in English,” he said.

BMW also has plans to open an AIDS testing centre in a suburb where many of its employees live. Richard Carter explains that it is not enough to have a program operating at the BMW plant. “These people go home; our people have families, schools, churches. We feel it is very very important to get out into the communities and to spread this language and this message,” Carter said.

A growing trend

BMW is not the only German company in South Africa engaged in a program to promote AIDS awareness and prevention. Some 79 percent of DaimlerChrysler’s 5,000-strong South African workforce have been tested. For the 9 percent with HIV, DaimlerChrysler offers free medication to help keep the disease under control. The strategy, which was created between Germany’s GTZ charity for technical cooperation and DaimlerChrysler, has proved successful in protecting both the company's profit and productivity.

Electronics giant Siemens is cutting a similar path in South Africa. The company has set up a 24-hour telephone line for help and advice on AIDS-related problems, and has installed condom machines throughout the plant. Siemens has also appointed 20 voluntary counselors who are on site to answer questions and offer support.

Overall the business world has been slow to react to HIV and AIDS, but BMW, DaimlerChrysler and Siemens are setting a example others might well follow.