The private sector can only officially claim to have conducted a mere 130 000 tests during the HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign that just ended in June. This is way lower than its aim to test two million employees for HIV. But many believe that the official figure of 130 000 is an under-count.

‘€œWe’€™ve got round about 130 000 records of people that we’€™ve tested. But we know that there have been many more tests than that that have actually been conducted in the private sector. We know that, for example, there are around two million tests that have been conducted in the private sector. It is speculative, and the way we’€™ve worked that out is we’€™ve just looked at the number of test kits that have been bought by companies for testing in the workplace. And on that basis we’€™ve been able to work out there are two million tests’€, says Brad Mears, the Chief Executive Officer of the South African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (SABCOHA).

As an example, in the mining sector alone, about 260 000 HIV tests were done.

‘€œThe stats that prove our contribution to the campaign’€¦ Just below 300 000 tests were done within the mining industry across all the sectors and this represents the chamber member companies’€, according to Dr Khanyile Baloyi, Assistant Health Advisor to the Chamber of Mines of South Africa.

But these figures were never submitted to SABCOHA. Many companies across various sectors, including the retail, agricultural and freight sectors have not reported their figures. This might give the impression that business has not made a meaningful contribution towards the HCT campaign, according to SABCOHA’€™s Brad Mears.  

‘€œThe trick is to get the private sector to report on the number of tests that it’€™s conducted. It’€™s about our ability to count better so that we can get more information, more detailed statistics from the various companies operating in sectors about what it is they’€™re doing – for two reasons. One, is it’€™s very difficult for us to understand what the gaps are within a sector in terms of their health response and, two, it’€™s very difficult for us to articulate back to government ‘€“ to whom we’€™re actually ultimately accountable to as far as HCT is concerned ‘€“ about what those sectors are doing. So, it’€™s about being able to count better and monitor and evaluate better’€, he says.        

Mears says the reason for the lack of reporting is probably a product of South Africa’€™s history on HIV and AIDS.

‘€œThe private sector, as is the country, is emerging from a decade of where there was a lot of silence around HIV.

And so, whilst there’€™s been an entrenched culture within companies to self-report and report internally, there hasn’€™t been a culture within companies to report externally to government, for example’€.    

The Executive Director of the South African Petroleum Industry Association, Fani Tshifularo, agrees.

‘€œAs a petroleum industry, we cannot as a collective say: ‘€˜This is what we have done’€™. People have been doing this on their own’€, Tshifularo says.  

Only about 90 companies have so far reported their HIV testing figures. But in the same way that most companies have failed to submit their figures, those that have haven’€™t indicated how much employees tested HIV-positive in the campaign. Mears pointed out that that could have a lot to do with the issue of stigma, saying that companies or even sectors possibly have a fear of being known as having the highest number of HIV-infected employees. He also said that those that did not report their testing figures probably have little capacity to do so. Mears added, however, that the business sector is adamant that it will reach its target of two million people tested for HIV.  

‘€œWe’€™re going to pull out all the stops to make sure that we do get there. Until we start getting more data from the private sector, we don’€™t know where we’€™re at. We really want to mobilise all sectors to do something significant. One of the ways in which we’€™re wanting to do that is through quite an intensive media campaign between now and World AIDS Day’€.

He also pointed out that business, particularly the mining sector, have led the support of HIV and AIDS programmes. He cautioned, though, that under the current financial climate, it’€™s going to be increasingly difficult for industry to support the AIDS response.

‘€œThe decline in economic prosperity over the last three years has been a very severe impediment. Most companies have got very little in the way of disposable, additional income and funding to be able to pay for workplace programmes. And so, strategies need to be developed in accordance with the current context’€¦ not about what we wish would happen, but dealing with the very realities that many of the companies in the sectors are having to deal with’€, says Mears.