---

ANNUAL CALENDAR

Click here to download the current SABCOHA calendar for 2008: sabcoha_events_calendar_20082

Forthcoming SABCOHA events

Work the future: invitation to NSP road show (11, 12, and 14 November)

How can business support the HIV and AIDS STI National Strategic Plan 2007 - 2011? Find out by joining leaders, key stakeholders and decision-makers for a collaboration in the private sector strategy on HIV and AIDS.

Metropolitan, SABCOHA and BUSA invite you to participate in shaping the future response to HIV and AIDS in South Africa. Prominent guest speakers will inspire you with Metropolitan Live the Future scenarios. During an interactive session, SABCOHA will share progress on the development of a private sector strategy on HIV and AIDS in line with the NSP.

The event has taken place in Cape Town, and Johannesburg. See below for other events.

Venues:

East London
Date: 11 November 2008
Venue: Premier Regent Hotel
Time: 7am for 7.30am
Speaker: Mark Heywood

Durban
Date: 12 November 2008
Venue: Hilton Hotel
Time: 7am for 7.30am
Speaker: Mark Heywood

Nelspruit
Date: 14 November 2008
Venue: Emnotweni Arena
Time: 7am for 7.30am
Speaker: Mark Heywood

RSVP before 13 October by contacting Zamile Tshabalala on 011 784 8000 or by email on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please confirm your dietary requirements.

Choose to be part of the Summer for All to ensure the success of the NSP.

Northern Cape Private Sector Conference (25 and 26 November 2008)

SABCOHA will host a Northern Cape private sector conference on 25 and 26 November 2008 in Upington. About 30 chief executives and operations managers of independently managed business operations and employer organisations have been invited to participate.

The coalition seeks to bring together business leaders and private sector HIV experts from across the province to consider and agree on a business sector HIV and AIDS strategy and response programme that addresses district and provincial needs. Given that the government is the lead agency for giving effect to the HIV & AIDS and STI National Strategic Plan 2007-2011 (NSP), senior government representatives at a provincial and district level have also been invited to attend.

In addition to understanding provincial priorities, high-level bilaterals between business and government leaders at a district level will be structured into the programme in an effort to bridge the gap between strategy development and implementation. Copies of the NSP have been posted to conference delegates.

Widespread consultations and stakeholder visits conducted since February 2008 provide much of the content and context needed for the conference. However, to build and expand thereon, SABCOHA will be conducting telephonic assessments (new and follow-up) among some 15 medium and large companies and/or operations selected from across the province. The objectives of the assessment include testing readiness and preparedness for meeting the aim contained in the NSP; scoping development/community funding commitments/priorities; verifying social networks; contributing to identifying gaps in service delivery.

The results, findings and conclusions will be documented in a 40-page report to be circulated to conference delegates as an additional contribution to understanding the context and business culture. This is neither a review nor audit of workplace programmes. Selected respondents will be requested to participate in due course.

A SABCOHA Northern Cape steering committee was established to provide direction and support during the lead up to the private sector conference. The committee comprises the following individuals:

• Sharon Steyn, Nocci Kimberley;
• Tom Duvenhage, Agri Noord-Kaap;
• Elder Mosia, De Beers Kimberley;
• Jomo Kwadi, Hotazel Manganese Mine;
• Anel Marais, Kumba Iron Ore; and
• Lesley Nugent, Nocci Upington.

A SABCOHA national advisory committee was also established to ensure additional oversight and leadership.

NOCCI Upington has agreed to manage all conference logistics. For the invitation to the Northern Cape private sector conference, click here.

Past Events

2nd SABCOHA Private Sector Conference (5 and 6 November 2008) 

The conference was held at Emperors Palace in Gauteng. The conference was highly stimulating and very well attended.

Related articles

State calls on business to help tackle HIV

Call for greater private sector response to HIV and AIDS

SABCOHA Conference kicks off 

Call made for greater unity in fighting HIV

Presentations

Jay Naidoo keynote address

Conference programme

Actuarial Society of South Africa: Monitoring and evaluating access to and effectiveness of HIV and AIDS treatment in the private sector

Overview: private sector conference

GIBBS: Leadership of organisational change in successful HIV/AIDS workplace interventions

Education, Training and Counselling: Findings following the first SANS 16001:2007 audits

AIDS Accountability International presentation

Herd: Impediments to the uptake of VCT and treatment

AIDS Accountability International: Proposed model for ranking business response to HIV/AIDS

Wits Business School: Traditional healers, HIV/AIDS and company programmes

TB-HIV integration in the workplace

Centre for the Study of AIDS: Beyond ribbons and rhetoric – HIV prevention in the workplace

Medworx: Private-public partnership in healthcare

BizAIDS: Taking up the informal sector challenge  

Wits Business School: Working with peer educators to identify and respond to risky sexual networks

Women’s health, HIV and work in South Africa: Making the connections

Work the Future presentation

Tomorrow Trust: Exit strategy for sustainability and self empowerment of OVCs

For Metropolitan's Live the Future website, on HIV and AIDS scenarios for South Africa 2005 to 2025, click here.

SABCOHA Annual General Meeting (30 October 2008)

The SABCOHA annual general meeting was held on Thursday, 30 October 2008 and three new governors were appointed.

Click here to view the new board.

Breakfast: AIDS 2008 feedback (17 September 2008) Jenni Gillies, the group HIV consultant at SABMiller, and Joy Beckett, the HIV/ Aids manager: operations at De Beers Consolidated Mines, gave feedback on the 17th International AIDS Conference, AIDS 2008, that took place in Mexico City from 3 to 8 August; the conference is an annual event, organised by the International AIDS Society. The theme was Universal Action Now and by presenting the outcomes SABCOHA hoped to leverage how we as a business community and country can realise that goal.

Denise Hunt from the AIDS Consortium spoke about the needs of the community and how business could support it more actively within the government's policy framework. Dr Tracey Peterson from De Beers and Jenni Gillies from SAB Ltd presented case studies.

Breakfast: Children are Everyone’s Business (July 2008)

We are often encouraged to leave work at the workplace and home outside of the workplace, however, HIV/AIDS forces us all to act across such lines. Children constitute 40% of all people in South Africa, representing the largest single grouping in the country. As employers and employees, our children’s lives affect why we work, how we perform in the workplace, what we do with our income and benefits, and what support is required for us to function effectively.  Business influences societal aspirations through advertising and marketing.  Children’s lives and possibilities are shaped by parents and caregivers, schools and communities, by what business does or does not do and how it operates.

Challenge to business to get involved in fight for children's rights

Second Wits HIV/AIDS in the Workplace Research Symposium (May 2008)

The Wits Business School hosted the 2nd Wits HIV/AIDS in the Workplace Research Symposium on the 29th and 30th of May 2008. With 5.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa alone, the continued challenges that HIV/AIDS presents to African economies and households, together with the accompanying advances made in workplace responses, created an uncontested rationale for a second Symposium. Just as the first 2004 Symposium emphasized research, the 2008 event focused on the presentation of rigorous, applied social research. This was a deliberate contrast to the commercial events attached to HIV/AIDS in the workplace that are commonly organised by the South African private sector. The content of the Symposium was underpinned by over 25 original research papers authored by a cadre of emerging young researchers, as well as established professionals and academics.

Click here to read more: hiv_symposium_overview_08

Click here to access the documents on the WBS website:

In response to the HIV/AIDS and STI National Strategic Plan 2007 - 2011 (NSP) and the restructuring of the South African National Aids Council (SANAC), a Situational Report of the private sector's response to HIV and AIDS in South Africa was commissioned. The report explores the contribution of the private sector and sectoral level responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa.

In preparation for the next SANAC Plenary Session, scheduled for 27 May 2008, governors and members of SABCOHA assisted with the evaluation of the Situational Analysis that was conducted and to review critically the document before it is published. The report is the first step in the development of a private sector response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa and considers a broad range of factors, including:

• The broader context within which a private sector response to HIV/AIDS is taking place;
• An assessment of what contributions the private sector is making in the response to HIV/AIDS;
• It links the private sector responses to the four main pillars of the National Strategic Plan; and
• It provides an assessment of the impediments preventing the private sector from responding more comprehensively to HIV/AIDS.JBIC/SABCOHA Breakfast: HIV/Aids Capacity Building Programmme
  

Risk Management Workshop for Small Businesses (22-23 May 2008)

BizAIDS in partnership with Women for Housing held a workshop on Risk Management for Small Businesses. The workship focussed on basic business skills and the risks associated with the continuity of the business.

Pan African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (PABC) Conference (20-22 May)

Delegates from across Africa formally approved the registration of the Pan African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (PABC), and also appointed the first interim board of directors at a conference held in Kyalami, Johannesburg.

Click here to access the conference website:

The Nelson Mandela Metro Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS (NMMBCAA) invited management, HIV/AIDS programme co-ordinators and peer educators of our partners in business, private, local and provincial government sectors to the AIDS Candlelight Memorial 2008, on 16 May.

The 25th anniversary International AIDS Candlelight Memorial, a programme of the Global Health Council, was designed to honour the memory of all those who have been affected by the AIDS pandemic. It was also an opportunity to educate people about HIV/AIDS, influence local and national policy makers, and create a common dialogue about prevention, care and treatment of the disease.

"Never give up, never forget" was this year's theme.

The NMMBCAA demonstrates support for those living with HIV and AIDS, acknowledges that we are all affected by the disease, and honours the memory of those lost to this disease.

The memorial was held at Missionvale Care Centre, 1 Tromp Road, Missionvale, Port Elizabeth, on 16 May 2008, from 9am to 11am. The guest speakers were Dr Alex Govender and Odwa Mtati. Sister Ethel Normoyle gave a message of hope.

Photographs can be seen on the image gallery.

SABCOHA Breakfast: “Total Control of the Epidemic” (8 April 2008)

SABCOHA held a breakfast on Community Outreach and how it can be implemented as part of a Corporate Strategy.

Click here to read the article about the presentation:

HIV: Crisis, What Crisis?” (26 March 2008)

The UCT Graduate School of Business together with the South African Business Coalition on HIV & AIDS (SABCOHA) held a seminar by Dr Francois Venter MD, Clinical Director, HIV Management Cluster, Esselen Street Clinic and Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit and lecturer in the Dept of Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand.

Click here to read an interview with Dr Venter on the talk:

SABCOHA Breakfast: 'What difference can nutrition really make?' (20 February 2008 )

Nutrition is a controversial but often neglected part of HIV treatment strategies. André Croucamp, author of Taste for Life, claims that the role that nutrition can play in managing HIV infection is a significant and not a marginal one.  

Click here to read an article on the presentation:

LAST YEAR'S EVENTS (2007)

SABCOHA Annual General Meeting (October 2007)

A new board was elected at the AGM. SABCOHA Prevention Round Table. Click here to view the minutes of the AGM: agm_mom_-_2007_

SABCOHA Prevention Round Table (October 2007)

In realising that prevention strategies in the workplace and in broader society have failed, there is a need to fundamentally change what we are doing, and in some cases reinvent strategies. In moving from simplistic understandings of human behavior, psychology and sexuality, towards an intimate and integrated insight on how these phenomena combine, prevention programs can be strengthened to achieve lasting healthy behavior. 
 
Click here to view the article on the round table:

Tackling sexuality in the workplace

Click here to view a presentation given at the follow-up Think Tank:

hiv_prevention_version_08071

Tackling sexuality in the workplace (October 2007)

Given that HIV prevention strategies in the workplace and broader society have largely failed, new insights into human behaviour, psychology and sexuality are called for. With this in mind, SABCOHA hosted a fascinating workshop at the Inanda Club in Johannesburg on 4 October where three experts gave input in these areas and pointed the way forward for the development of new approaches.

Pierre Brouard from the Centre for the Study of AIDS, based at the University of Pretoria, gave an insightful presentation on the sociological aspects of HIV.

Brouard, a psychologist by training said, "AIDS has taught me to be more a sociologist than a psychologist" - referring to the importance of the social and political milieu in understanding trends in HIV/AIDS.

"Prevention is about changing behaviour but the social and political world we live in has a powerful impact on behaviour," he said.

The economics of prevention  (August 2007)

Debbie Muirhead from Aurum Institute for Health Research presented The economics of prevention at the SABCOHA breakfast. 

Click here to view the presentation made at the breakfast:

SA AIDS 2007: SABCOHA Satellite Session Programme (June 2007)

SABCOHA held a Private Sector parallel session at the SA AIDS 2007 Conference in Durban.

Click here to view the presentations:

Peer educators meeting in Cape Town (May 2007)

Informer Newspaper and SABCOHA hosted the workplace Peer Educators Forum in Cape Town, which was sponsored by Shell SA.

Click here to read more about the event:

Launch of SABCOHA's internet portal (May 2007)

SABCOHA unveiled its new website, which it hopes will assist businesses in dealing with HIV/Aids-related issues. The website is "interactive, informative, up-to-date," and offers information which will aid national HIV/Aids measures, he said. These included latest news and information on upcoming conferences, policy developments and research, and HIV/Aids service providers’ details.

Click here to view an article on the launch:

Peer Educators Forum meeting in East London (March 2007)

SABCOHA and Informer newspaper held a meeting with workplace Peer Educators in East London. It follows from the hugely successful launches of the Peer Educators Forums in Johannesburg, Rustenburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth. The Forum aims to recognise Peer Educators for their dedication and commitment to colleagues, allow them to share and learn from one another, and through presentations by experienced peer education trainers, also to provide useful information on the research and HIV/AIDS strategies.

Markinor/Bureau of Market Research (January 2007)

The first SABCOHA breakfast of the year kicked off with a presentation of the Markinor Survey: "Fusing HIV/AIDS risk segmentation and demographic modeling: a novel way of looking at the business impact of HIV/AIDS in South Africa." The research, conducted jointly by Markinor and the BMR (Bureau for Market Research), integrates insight and empirical evidence for the first time in the country in a study of this nature. Key findings include that: high-risk sexual behaviour is on the rise; the number of HIV-positive people is still increasing; and that HIV is encroaching on the highly skilled and more affluent among us.

For details on the event click here

Fusing HIV/AIDS risk segmentation and demographic modeling.

2006

 A number of major events were held in 2006, including the launch of the Peer Educator's Forum and feedback from the International AIDS Conference in Toronto. The country’s first-ever private sector conference hosted by SABCOHA and Business Unity South Africa brought together a wide range of experts and participants in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention from the private sector, research agencies, government, NGO world and beyond.