HIV programs in workplace save money: IOM

HIV programs in workplace save money: IOM
GENEVA (Reuters) - Companies can save money and retain morestaff by offering their workers HIV programs, particularly inareas where infection rates are high, an international aidagency said on Tuesday.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) analyzedconditions in Zambia, where 17 percent of adults have HIV andmany large private-sector companies depend on migrant workerswho are particularly vulnerable to the disease.
Its study, which looked at copper mining and agriculturalfirms, found that HIV "had an enormous impact on all companiesamong all ranges of skills," IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandyasaid.
"By implementing a range of HIV programs for staff, thebenefits far outweigh the costs, both human and financial," shetold a Geneva news briefing.
HIV programs in the workplace -- including health care,testing and counseling -- gave employees a chance to combatdiscrimination and learn about prevention, the IOM found.
They also helped prevent absenteeism, employee turnover,and lost productivity, according to the study which assesseddata from seven of the biggest companies in Zambia, employingbetween 350 and 10,000 people.
The typical company spent nearly $9,000 per employee lostto the disease, including funeral expenses and the costs havinga supervisor train a successor. Six of the seven companiesshowed net benefits for their programs, amounting to an averageof $47 per employee in the year 2006, according to the report.
The largest company saved nearly $500,000 in what wouldhave been lost productivity from sick employees, Pandya said,adding: "The larger the company, the greater the benefits itderived."
The IOM reported a general belief among companies in Zambiathat labor was "plentiful, cheap and always there," but warnedthis was extremely short-sighted.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Laura MacInnis)