More people go to work each day than any other place on the planet, but some countries will see a 25 percent drop in their workforce by 2010 due to AIDS. Recognizing the impact that
HIV/AIDS has on the labor sector, companies’ productivity and profitability, and national economies, the
AED Center on AIDS & Community Health spearheaded a global HIV/AIDS workplace program called
SMARTWork—Strategically Managing AIDS Responses Together in the Workplace.
Since its inception in 2001, SMARTWork has reached roughly 150 employers and engaged more than 5,000 NGOs in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The project seeks to reduce the rate of HIV infection and protect the human rights of individuals affected and infected by HIV/AIDS through workplace education and prevention programs.
Efforts also include providing access to critical services, such as voluntary HIV counseling and testing, as well as care and support and treatment. The initiative has brought government, business, and labor unions together to develop these programs and appropriate HIV/AIDS policies at the national and workplace level in Ukraine, Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Haiti.
More than 1 million workers have seen improvements in HIV/AIDS policies and programs because of SMARTWork. In multinational companies such as Adidas-Salomon, Cadbury, Timberland, Colgate-Palmolive, and Sheraton Hotels - and in smaller and medium-sized enterprises as well- SMARTWork has helped create dramatic improvements in access to HIV/AIDS-Related services.
In Odessa, which has one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in Ukraine, SMARTWork worked with the Odessa Sea Port to develop anti-stigma and discrimination policies for employees living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. Additionally, the program assisted the port in developing HIV/AIDS prevention and education and programs for its 30,000 employees.
SMARTWork has supported the development of other workplace HIV/AIDS initiatives in Ukraine, including the Marine Transport Trade Union, the Trade Union of Railways, and Kyiv Ambulance, representing more than one million workers.
At Saigon Beer in Vietnam, there was no AIDS education before SMARTWork. Now, because of a successful public-private partnership with AED, all of the brewery’s 10,000 employees, from the company director to the moped parker, have been trained in HIV prevention. The company has seen how many days employees miss due to illnesses associated with HIV or caring for infected relatives and is now looking at home-based care for people with AIDS.
While the project, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, officially ended in September 2006, program activities continue with bilateral support in Nigeria, Haiti, and Vietnam.
“SMARTWork has not only changed the course of HIV/AIDS in workplaces across multiple countries, it has also reenergized our own HIV/AIDS workplace program at AED, resulting in education and support programs being implemented regularly for our staff as well,” said Michael Kaplan, vice president for HIV/AIDS Programs at AED.
For more information, contact Frank Beadle De Palomo.
