The impetus to develop the Roche Pharmaceuticals HIV and AIDS policy came from the CEO who attended the World AIDS Conference in 2000. Roche aimed to integrate HIV into the core business of the company and ensure the sustainability of their HIV programme. Meaningful employee involvement in the development and implementation of the HIV policy was provided through the establishment of a representative task force, elected from its 500 staff. Partnership with GTZ provided essential technical and practical training and assistance in development of the policy and implementation. This was however on the understanding that the Roche task force would be able to take these efforts beyond their three year partnership with GTZ. The task force wrote the policy between January and September 2002, and required examination of a number of internal issues at Roche so that the policy best met the needs of Roche as an organisation.

The final document was short and easy to read. All employees were given a copy and made aware of where help was available in the company and how to access this. Confidentiality was assured. The Roche spokesperson, Faith Masilo, commented that employees learnt to cope and work through their own fears, and so were able to lead this effort for the company.

Key to the success of the policy and its implementation has been good communication on the policy within Roche. For example, managers are aware which of their employees form part of the task force and receive minutes of these meetings so that they can accommodate the additional workload and responsibilities that these employees carry. This helps to avoid frustrations that might otherwise arise from having employees away from their workstations.

Roche is confident about the policy and its implementation within the company. Milestones include a prevalence study (saliva tests) conducted in March 2003 in which 99% of employees participated. Prevalence was 8%. A VCT campaign followed in September 2003, with 31% participation. An occupational health clinic on the premises continues to offer VCT daily. Aid for AIDS (AFA) has been contracted to provide HIV/AIDS related assistance to all HIV-positive employees. As this programme is not linked to Roche Human Resources Department, confidentiality is ensured and employees can use the system with confidence. At this stage, the service is not extended to family members.

Roche will be concentrating for the near future on (1) providing managers with appropriate training to manage HIV related discussions with employees and (2) assisting employees to manage their VCT results (3) the integration of chronic illnesses into the programme, and (4) developing a monitoring and evaluation system.
Aid for AIDS provides a network of HIV and AIDS trained medical practitioners, private doctors and mine doctors and will source doctors where no local doctor is available. Many companies choose to use Aid for AIDS to support a comprehensive treatment programme for their employees. Aid for AIDS works in collaboration with company medical aid schemes, but as all administration is separate from that of the company, confidentiality is ensured. Aid for AID provides general guidelines to companies on uptake but will not divulge the category of employee or any personal details of patients to the company.

Contact Stephen Laverack, Education and Awareness Manager, Aid for AIDS on;
Tel: (021) 514 1700
Fax: (02) 514 1771;
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it - From HIVAN

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