It is chaired by Alain Viry CEO of CFAO PPR Group

In most of the 120 hotels Accor-mercury in Africa, can now buy condoms in one of the distributors installed by the care of the group. In facilities of South Africa, Cameroon, Rwanda, Chad and Togo, they are even filed free of charge in the rooms, floors and reception. "The tourism industry is linked to the movements of passengers which may be in contact with the epidemic." Hélène Roques, Director of the sustainable development of Accor "As a globally established group, we can accelerate awareness in the fight against AIDS," says on this subject.

The hotel group is not limited to the distribution of condoms in its African subsidiaries. The fight against AIDS also includes training and awareness-raising actions affecting a large part of its 160,000 employees worldwide. It also includes incitement to screening in the most affected countries and the support of the cost of the salaries for the employees affected by the virus.

In recent years, large companies have adopted similar policies. Long indifferent or away from the problem, they seem to be up for lost time. It is first to respond to an emergency: most of their efforts concerning the African continent by far the most affected by the pandemic.

The role of the peer educators

"Most business decision makers do not underestimated the seriousness of the problem in Africa, but they found that it was too huge to be resolved at their level," said Erick Maville, Director of the European Office of the Global Coalition against HIV/AIDS business, or Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBC). "They did not feel a legitimacy to act." They also raised the issue of the sustainability of their action.

The "coalitions of companies" played a decisive role to convince leaders to action. Created in 1997, Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS brings together 220 multinational companies, including 75 European. It is led by Richard Holbrooke, former Ambassador to the United States to the United Nations. GBC is in France of the commitment of his Vice President, Bertrand Collomb, who is also the CEO of Lafarge. In association with a German technical cooperation agency, GTZ, this coalition launches today world day of fight against AIDS a tool of evaluation of programs to fight against this disease in the workplace.

AIDS-companies, another coalition launched in 2003, brings together his side 100 French companies in Africa. It is chaired by Alain Viry, CEO of CFAO (PPR Group). The role of these groupings is to broadcast programs consistent AIDS in enterprises, promoting "good practices" of the more advanced groups.

At the local level, the first step is to raise awareness and train employees to the problems of AIDS. "In this area, we rely on the"peer educators": it's employees volunteer for training on issues related to the disease and ready to play a role in contact with their colleagues", explains Patrice Lucas, Director of the social policies of the Lafarge Group.

Thus, the action in the plant of the group in South Africa, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, has led to strong mobilization of workers, with a particular involvement of the trade union leaders. "This requires pass over certain taboos, as to speak of sexual relations between colleagues." "But it possible this mobilization," said Patrice Lucas.

Support for families

In CAD/CAM, which has 8,000 employees in 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 500 peer educators have been trained, and 70 of employees participated in awareness sessions.

Awareness encourages employees to perform testing, always on a voluntary basis, and ensuring the anonymity of the results. "Specifically, buses are made available for employees, to the exit, for tests", says Catherine blacksmith, Director of the social innovation of the Total Group. In Burkina Faso, countries relatively unaffected by HIV/AIDS, 70 of the Total employees had recourse to the screening. To achieve such results, the groups use the annual campaigns, a bit on the model of the donation of blood or the influenza vaccination.

But the consequences are not the same. "An employee who discovers his HIV status must be able to be supported," said Patrice Lucas. Most of the groups involved have made the choice to support the cost of treatment, with employees and their "assigns", namely, their spouses and their children. But the terms may vary. In its subsidiary of Gabon, with 1,700 employees in a country where the HIV prevalence rate is 8, Veolia Environment supports treatment in public health centres. "If we are very involved in prevention and health, we have no vocation to create our own hospital", says Bruno of Bruzonnière, physician and Director of Veolia Environment health.

Confidentiality of care

Companies can however be brought to treat their employees, which poses formidable problems of ethics: how to ensure respect for confidentiality, under these conditions "In our plant in the North of Cameroon, the nearest hospital is 100 kilometres." "The only way to proceed is to administer treatment in our own clinic, otherwise the treatments would not be followed," said Patrice Lucas, adding that "this case remains an exception for Lafarge". To the Kenya, the Group thus transferred important clinic of factory in public medical authority "for both ethical and economic reasons".

Yet, "the companies are brought to play an increasing role in the fight against AIDS and general health issues", said Bruno of Bruzonnière. Encouraged by coalitions of business, a new type of actions aims to perpetuate and expand programs to fight AIDS, local NGOs, public authorities and international donors. In the programme "Partners against AIDS" launched in June, the French Development Agency (AFD) has chosen CBG and AIDS-companies to allocate a Fund of EUR 3 million over three years, devoted to research and training in combating AIDS. What is also controversial. "Some companies have become aware of the extent of the problems associated with AIDS, and have implemented of the shares of quality at the local level," finds Emmanuel Trenado, Director of international programs of the association aid, pioneer in France in the fight against AIDS. "But we especially need a coherent international response, as the epidemic expands."

Decline in public health

Far can go programs to fight AIDS companies in developing countries "Large companies brought concrete results in combating AIDS," Judge Thomas Miklavec, co-founder of the Sanisphère consulting company, specializing in health issues. "They were notably better popularized testing than care centres." "The management of base plays a mobilizing role at the local level," said, after 80 programs for enterprises in developing countries. Remains in Africa and in developing countries the employees remain a minority. And that companies can only offset the decline of patent and disturbing public health since the 1990s.