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HIV and Aids has come down significantly, but to HIV-negative babies for the past 10 years.
even one death is one too many.” HIV IN NUMBERS
Sedibe says that, while De Beers Group has
achieved noteworthy milestones in combating
the scourge and associated stigma, several
challenges remain: “The rate of new cases – 26%
those who move from being HIV negative to
HIV positive – remains a huge challenge, not
just for the South African mining industry, but
for the rest of the country. Our collective efforts IN 2016, ONLY 26%
are transitioning from providing treatment, care OF THE WORKFORCE
and support to prevention. KNEW THEIR HIV STATUS
“At De Beers Group, employees are linked to
treatment and support early. This has improved
the health and productivity of our colleagues
living with the disease, and has allowed them 81%
to continue participating in the economy.”
Sedibe, who is based in Johannesburg, is
responsible for employee health at the De
Beers Group globally. IN 2017, THIS
He says the company first took steps to IMPROVED TO 81%
combat HIV and Aids in the workplace at its
Debswana mine in Botswana. These initiatives
were a world first, he says, and were later
replicated at their business units in South 89%
Africa.
“In 1996, Debswana realised the devastating
impact of HIV on its employees and the
business, which was experienced through loss IN 2018, 89% OF STAFF WERE
of skills and productivity, early retirements due TESTED AND
to ill health, and deaths in service as a result of KNOW THEIR HIV STATUS workforce knew their HIV status. In 2017, this
HIV. The workforce morale was justifiably low
due to employees being either infected or
affected.
“Debswana initiated discussions in exploring 98%
provision of an HIV workplace programme to
provide treatment, care and support to those
infected and affected. A voluntary saliva-based OF THOSE LIVING WITH
anonymous HIV survey was conducted in the
same year to quantify the magnitude of the HIV, 98% ARE LINKED
problem. It found that HIV prevalence averaged TO TREATMENT, CARE
29% across the company’s operations. AND SUPPORT
“So, in 2001, an HIV and Aids workplace
policy was established to respond to the
epidemic. This was followed by pioneering the
first workplace HIV disease management 92%
programme in the world. The programme’s
objective was to provide lifesaving antiretroviral
drugs. This was not only seen as a business OF THOSE ON
imperative, but as the right thing to do – in ANTIRETROVIRAL DRUGS,
keeping with the De Beers Group values of
showing care and building trust.” 92% ARE SUPPRESSING THE
He says the programme also set about VIRUS AND LIVING A HEALTHY
addressing shame associated with HIV infection. AND PRODUCTIVE LIFE
since then has been that HIV-positive women ‘‘
“At first, due to the stigma associated with
HIV, our colleagues living with HIV found it
difficult to access treatment, care and support
because they feared being stigmatised. The
greatest challenge was getting them tested to
know their HIV status. At the time, we saw that
the way confidentiality was dealt with became
the key determinant to their participation. Back
We know our
then, side-effects associated with antiretroviral
drugs posed another challenge. It also
status, and we are
contributed to poor compliance and, in certain
instances, resistance to these lifesaving drugs.”
In 2002, De Beers Group introduced a similar
HIV-related disease management programme at
urge you to
its mines in South Africa. One major milestone
do the same
across the organisation have been giving birth empowered. We
ANGLO AMERICAN 25 REASONS TO BELIEVE
This translated into nearly 500 pregnancies with
HIV-negative results, Sedibe says. In addition, he
notes that mining employees appear happier
and more productive, while the absenteeism
rate has dropped.
However, like most programmes, the disease
management plan suffered from what Sedibe
calls “programme fatigue”. This required the
company to go back to the drawing board to
refresh its strategy. The result was a “know your
status” campaign launched in 2017, which was
actively supported by top executives. The aim
was to remove the stigma attached to being
tested for HIV.
“A senior leadership team at De Beers led
from the front and took ownership. The
objective was to reinforce the premise that
knowing your HIV status is empowering,” says
Sedibe.
“So, in 2017, the entire De Beers executive
leadership went out and got tested for HIV, and
they continue to do so every year to establish a
culture of knowing your HIV status. Collectively,
the senior leadership team was able to boldly
state: ‘We know our status, and we are
empowered. We urge you to do the same.’
“As a result, we have seen a significant
improvement in the participation of our
wellness programmes. In 2016, only 26% of our
improved to 81%. Last year, 89% of our
colleagues tested and know their HIV status. Of
those living with HIV, 98% were linked to
treatment, care and support. And, of those on
antiretroviral drugs, 92% are suppressing the
virus and living a healthy and productive life.”
Sedibe says they learnt important lessons,
including that continued leader-driven efforts
are key to ensuring that complacency does
not set in.
He adds that dialogue around HIV issues
with management had been “open and honest,
and truly ground-breaking for the organisation”.
The conversation was shared with the rest of
the group’s employees in a two-part video
series, which kick-started the HIV testing
campaign last year.
“Getting to zero has been an interesting and
challenging journey,” says Sedibe. “With
campaigns under way in each of our businesses
to encourage employees to get tested and
know their status, we believe that zero HIV
deaths, zero new infections and zero stigma is
Aids.”
ultimately achievable. We may have a long way
to go on our journey, but we’re determined
and committed, and won’t stop fighting this
battle. We will arrive at a future free of HIV and
In addition, Sedibe notes that he is proud of
the company’s strides in reducing TB at its
mines. He says the De Beers Group has
reported no TB deaths since 2012, and that the
company’s TB incidence is less than 100 per
100 000 employees. This is in a region that
generally reports up to 800 cases per 100 000
“This is probably one of the lowest levels in
South Africa’s mining sector,” he says. “I see
this as a commendable achievement that
demonstrates that our efforts count.”
people.
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