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(KINGSTON) The AIDS Responsibility Project released a Jamaica Corporate Survey today on HIV/AIDS in the workplace, as part of a broad effort to launch a national business council on HIV/AIDS in Jamaica.

The survey of 23 companies across 11 industries found that 61 % did not have HIV-specific policies, and the number of people with HIV employed at the surveyed companies may be four to eight times larger than the employers know about.  Half of the companies which screen employees for HIV reported they would decline to hire those who test HIV-positive, and less than half of the companies with confidentiality policies that cover HIV status have procedures in place to handle violations.

"Stigma and discrimination based on HIV/AIDS cost employers more money than efforts to reduce them," said Abner Mason, executive director of the AIDS Responsibility Project.  "By supporting JEF and the Jamaican business community, we hope to help remove stigma and discrimination as a barrier to prevention and care, as well as contribute to the growth and productivity of the Jamaican economy."

Mason was joined by Brenda LaGrange Johnson, U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica; Hon. John Junor, the Jamaican Minister of Health; Mrs. Jacqueline Coke-Lloyd, executive director of the Jamaica Employers Federation (JEF); and CEOs and business leaders in releasing the report, and announcing the effort to form a business council by May 2006.

ARP is partnering with The Futures Group in providing strategic support to JEF in addressing stigma and discrimination in the Jamaican workplace.   Stigma creates fear of job loss, JEF said, which leads many workers to conceal their HIV status, avoid effective treatment and become more costly to the company and to the community.  It is also estimated, according to the Ministry of Health, that about 70% of people with HIV in Jamaica are unaware they are infected.  These factors, and a lack of effective management policies on HIV/AIDS, create added costs to businesses and is a drag on the Jamaican economy.

At the event, release Coke-Lloyd of JEF issued a call to the business community to form the council and identify its action agenda, pledging an inclusive and consulting process that would "ensure the perspectives and interests of employers are considered and voiced in a meaningful way."

Ambassador Johnson said that the survey report showed "the steps needed for this effort to work.  It is now time to move forward, and I urge each of you to consider your role in the tasks ahead."

Several companies in Jamaica are already working with JEF, the Ministry of Health and the International Labor Organization to develop effective employment policies and programs to reduce HIV-related stigma, encourage employees to know their HIV status, maintain confidentiality and expand options for treatment.  The business council would help coordinate that activity for the private sector, and act as a forum to share information and results between companies.

The report included a list of 13 companies which have agreed to a "corporate values statement" which will become the mission statement of the new council: "Our company is committed to eradicating HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in our workplace."  Those companies listed were American Airlines, Bank of Nova Scotia, Cable & Wireless, Carreras Group Ltd., Grace Kennedy & Co. Ltd., Guardian Life, Island Grill, Jamaica Money Market Brokers, Jamaica Shipping Association, Pan Jamaican Investment Trust, Radio Jamaica, Red Stripe Diageo, and Terra Nova All Suites Hotel.

The Jamaica survey report was funded by Merck Sharp & Dohme in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Jamaica program follows the successful ARP/Futures Group partnership to launch the Consejo Nacional Empresarial sobre SIDA (CONAES), or the national business council on HIV/AIDS in Mexico, in 2004.  CONAES has held its first national conference and its 29 member companies have pledged to enact HIV-specific workplace policies be the end of 2006, and to expand their membership.  ARP/Futures is continuing to provide technical assistance to both CONAES and a network of local NGOs in Mexico who provide services to the member companies, with funding support from USAID.

Click here for the Jamaica Corporate Survey Report in PDF format