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Eleven U.S. companies and one British firm operating in Mexico launched Tues! day the National Business Council on AIDS, a project aimed at eradicating HIV/AIDS-related discrimination in the Mexican workplace.

Employing the slogan "Good for People, Good for Business," the council is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development and both U.S. and Mexican AIDS activist groups.

It was founded on Dec. 1, 2004 - International AIDS Day - following a survey last summer whose results indicated that many top U.S. companies doing business in Mexico already had anti-stigmatization and anti-discrimination programs in place.

Company leaders formed the organization to share their experiences with each ot! her and with other businesses that still suffer from AIDS-related workplace discrimination, members told a news conference in Mexico City.

The council's next step is to involve Mexican-owned companies of all sizes, as well as additional foreign corporations, to build an eventual membership of at least 50 Mexican-based businesses.

That will likely be a challenge in a country where ignorance surrounds AIDS and where companies openly employ what would be considered discriminatory practices in other countries. Job advertisements often require candidates to be of a certain age or appearance, for example.

"We are not going to ju! st stick with U.S. and international companies, but to unite and create alliances with Mexican business. This is fundamental," said Adolfo Franco, USAID's assistant administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean. He noted that the survey indicated widespread AIDS-related discrimination problems in the Mexican workplace.

Abner Mason, executive director of the U.S.-based nongovernmental organization AIDS Responsibility Project, said companies who founded the council "recognize that good human resource policies are good for people and good for business."

U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza, who attended the launch ceremony, noted that working together with Mexico to fight AIDS discrimination "is in the interest of both countries" because AIDS "does not respect borders."

Fighting discrimination in the workplace "is good for the well-being of the employees and the employers ... and contributes to the overall fight in Mexico against AIDS," Garza said.

Programs in place within the council's founding companies include strict anti-discrimination codes and enforcement rules, AIDS education programs for employees, psychological counseling, and support for public and private AIDS initiatives in the community.

The groups founding companies are: FedEx Express Mexic! o; Merck, Sharpe & Dohme; Abbott Laboratories; Procter & Gamble; Pfizer; Kraft; Ford Motor Company; Xerox; Eli Lilly; GE International; Banamex, and the British company GlaxoSmithKline.