Business Joins S. Africa AIDS Fight

In a sign of growing worries about the economic toll of AIDS, South Africa’s telephone company said Friday it will buy 5 million condoms to distribute to its employees.

The purchase by Telkom, which has about 58,000 workers, reflects a sobering realization in big business that the cash-strapped South African government is struggling in its battle against AIDS.

Most free condoms are provided by the government, which has called upon the private sector to do more in combating one of the world’s fastest-growing AIDS crises. The Telkom purchase is the biggest yet by a private firm, according to the Health Ministry.

“This is an intervention by a company trying to help its employees,” said Nothemba Dlali, a spokeswoman for the ministry. “It is what is needed to control the epidemic.”

The telephone company, which is owned in part by a consortium that includes U.S.-based Southwestern Bell, has distributed government-supplied condoms in its restrooms for about three years. But the 1,500 dispensers, company officials said, are virtually always depleted.

With the private purchase, supplies will increase about fourfold. Beginning in April, Telkom estimates, it will give away about 100,000 condoms weekly for a year.

“The reality is that government has limited resources, so forward-thinking companies need to get actively involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS in similar or other innovative ways,” said Victor Booysen, Telkom’s group executive for human resources. “The problem cannot be left only to government.”

The United Nations estimates that about 13% of adults in South Africa are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, with about 1,500 new infections daily. The epidemic has had huge social costs, with the number of AIDS orphans skyrocketing and the country’s hospital beds increasingly monopolized by people with AIDS-related illnesses.

But the consequences for South African business have been slower to register.

In other parts of Africa, where the epidemic had a much earlier start, companies have documented big losses because of absenteeism, growing health costs and a depleted pool of skilled labor. Uganda Railways loses about $300 annually per employee because of AIDS-related costs, according to a U.N. study. A transportation company in Zimbabwe reports that 20% of its profits are lost to AIDS, the study says.

By most accounts, South Africa is catching up. A study of employee benefits here by Metropolitan Life estimates that 19% of such benefits will be consumed by AIDS-related outlays within the next five years.

“The nature of the epidemic is that South Africa was destined to have it, but 10 years ago people just wouldn’t believe you,” said Clive Evian, director of AIDS Management and Support, a Johannesburg company that advises businesses on AIDS policies. “South Africa went through a very eventful period, with the fall of apartheid and the coming of a new government. It was very difficult during that period to make AIDS an issue.”

Telkom would not disclose how many workers have left the company because of AIDS, but Evian, who helped Telkom devise an AIDS prevention program, said his projections showed that “some thousands” would soon be infected.

“If you are able to prevent even a handful of cases, you have already paid for your education and awareness programs,” Evian said.

Telkom spokesman Tshepo Mahlangu said there has been some resistance to the condom distribution on religious grounds. The company, however, argues that the program should be seen in the context of its overall HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, which includes confidential screening and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases as well as financial and legal counseling.

AIDS experts say the Telkom program is the way of the future.

“The conclusion is stark,” Alan Whiteside, director of AIDS research at the University of Natal, told a gathering of business leaders last year. “With the scale of the epidemic being experienced in South Africa, business involvement in AIDS is necessary for more than commercial reasons. It is needed if the region is to survive economically, politically and socially.”