HIV/Aids remains a challenging disease in South Africa, with one out of every six people living with HIV/Aids in the world found in South Africa.
Exxaro HIV prevalence is currently estimated at 14%. At the end of 2008, 64% of our employees had participated in voluntary counselling and testing. However, at some sites less than half the employees have tested. Our target for 2009 is to get at least 50% of all employees at each site to test for HIV.
The groups HIV/Aids programme was reviewed and the strategy revised to address identified implementation gaps.
The major strategic objectives of Exxaros HIV/Aids programme are to:
The range of services available to employees includes:
One of our challenges has been ensuring adherence to treatment and this will be an area of focus in 2009. Training will be provided to encourage employees to be more supportive to HIV positive employees and peer educators will be equipped with skills to help colleagues adhere to treatment.
Progress on achieving Exxaros strategic objectives will be tracked over time by introducing targets on training, testing enrolments and adherence to treatment.
CONTACT
Dr Busi Madolo
Tel: +27 12 307 4598
busi.madolo@exxaro.com