Workplace and Private Sector Linkages for Partnership

In one of the many innovative approaches to developing links with the business community, the Thailand Business Coalition on AIDS has developed a program which enables companies to gain insurance bonuses if they have in place workplace practices in relation to HIV, and by so doing had received an AIDS Standard Organisation certificate. A total of 122 companies, with over 83,000 employees, have participated in the program to date. The results of the assessment, which was the substance of this presentation, are enlightening but perhaps the most valuable lesson is how a perceived negative - the problems associated with HIV positive employees - can be turned into a useful educational experience for all concerned. One of the findings was that 53 percent of the companies involved in the program carried out some form of condom promotion activities, and 90 percent of these involved the distribution of free condoms. One of the hints for those who might chose to replicate this partnership is to approach large multi-nationals at senior level first. This makes including smaller, local subsidiaries easier later. Is this one way in which globalisation can work FOR the epidemic?