South Africa's rocketing AIDS rates hit manufacturing sector

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) Feb 03, 2004
South Africa's sky-high AIDS rates have cut profits in more than 40 percent of manufacturers surveyed in a domestic study released by the South African Coalition on HIV and AIDS (SABCOHA) on Tuesday.

SABCOHA, a group of companies coordinating their approach toward AIDS, reported in December that at least a third of the 1,006 businesses surveyed countrywide had reported a decrease in profits due to AIDS.

It released details of the December report on Tuesday to show the effect of AIDS on different sectors in the South African economy, including manufacturing, motoring, wholesale, building and construction and retail.

"More than 40 percent of manufacturers reported that HIV/AIDS has already reduced profits. Of the sectors surveyed, the retail trade seems to be the least affected," SABCOHA spokesman Leighton McDonald told reporters in Johannesburg.

"The impact of HIV/AIDS on profits in the building and construction, motor trade and wholesale sectors rated somewhere between that of the high-risk manufacturing and lower-risk retail sectors."

The survey -- based on an opinion poll done among top executives, but which did not include figures -- found that 42 percent of manufacturers do have AIDS policies in place, while the sectors said to be less affected lagged behind.

Previous studies on the impact of AIDS have showed that mining, transport, building and construction and manufacturing were the most vulnerable, but this survey excluded mining and the financial sector.

The UN agency UNAIDS has estimated that South Africa had 5.3 million infected adults at the end of 2002 -- the highest number of any country in the world.

MacDonald said: "When respondents were asked to rank different HIV/AIDS related costs according to the impact that they have on company costs, they indicated that lower labour productivity and increased absenteeism, followed by higher employee benefit costs and lost experience and skills, are the factors that have the largest impact on company costs."

The US ambassador to South Africa, Cameron Hume, announced Tuesday that South Africa would get an initial 40 million dollars (32 billion euros), from a sum of 2.4 billion dollars approved earlier by the US Congress, in the 2004 financial year.

TERRA.WIRE