ADDRESSING LABOR EFFECTS OF HIV/AIDS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GABORONE 000879

SIPDIS

AF/S FOR MALONEY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB KHIV PGOV PHUM BC KPRP HIV AIDS
SUBJECT: ADDRESSING LABOR EFFECTS OF HIV/AIDS


1. (U) Summary: HIV/AIDS is slowing economic growth in
Botswana by an estimated 1.5 percent per year, in part
through its impact on labor - decreased productivity,
increased leave taking, and lost workers. In order
better to quantify this drag on growth, the GOB has begun
to collect data on the labor impacts of HIV/AIDS in the
public sector. To mitigate the economic costs of the
disease, the GOB is developing a national policy on
HIV/AIDS and employment. USG assistance, through USDOL
and PEPFAR, is helping Botswana manage the labor-related
consequences of HIV/AIDS to minimize the economic losses
occasioned by this epidemic. More and better data on
HIV/AIDS' workforce impact will enable donors and policy
to develop strategies to ensure that economic growth
continues despite a high HIV prevalence rate. End
Summary.

HIV/AIDS IMPACTS ON CIVIL SERVANTS


2. (U) In May 2005, the National AIDS Coordinating
Agency (NACA) released a report reflecting the impact
HIV/AIDS had on the public sector workforce during the
first quarter of 2005. Dr. Boga Fidzani, who is
overseeing this data collection and analysis at NACA,
told PolOff that the report was the first in a planned
series that will enable the GOB to monitor labor impacts
of HIV/AIDS as well as the success of interventions
designed to limit its spread and mitigate its impacts.
The report measured, among other things, deaths per
thousand employees, sick leave taken and other leave
taken.


3. (U) Dr. Fidzani readily admitted that the data on
which the report was based were yet not reliable.
Ministries had been lax about entering information on
leaving taking and deaths among their workers into a
government-wide database on a consistent and timely
basis. Consequently, it would not be advisable to draw
conclusions from the statistics contained in this initial
report. Thanks, however, to a public admonition by
President Mogae to the Permanent Secretaries, the senior-
most civil servants in the Government, to improve their
reporting, Dr. Fidzani had received a number of calls
seeking details about the report and how to access the
database. With the sustained commitment of the Permanent
Secretaries, the quality of data used in the report is

SIPDIS
likely to improve considerably, making it a useful
analytical tool.

LABOR EFFECTS OF AIDS IN PRIVATE SECTOR


4. (U) In 1998, UNDP commissioned a study on the macro-
economic impacts of HIV/AIDS. Released in 2000, the
study estimated that HIV/AIDS likely would slow economic
growth by 1.5 percent, decrease by 8 percent house-hold
level per capita income, and increase by 5 percent the
number of people living poverty. As skilled workers died
from disease, the study estimated, a shortage of skilled
labor would drive up the cost of skilled wages by 12 to
17 percent. In June 2005, the UNDP tendered a request
for proposals to conduct two separate studies on the
macro-economic and demographic impacts of HIV/AIDS to
update the 2000 estimates. According to Lydia Matebesi
of UNDP, the organization hopes to have completed studies
by the end of the year.


5. (U) In a conversation with PolOff on June 16, Jeffrey
Makgolo at the Botswana Business Coalition on AIDS
(BBCA),the HIV/AIDS branch of the Botswana Confederation
of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM),lamented the
absence of a similar mechanism within the private sector.
Makgolo affirmed that employers generally recognize that
AIDS has a negative effect on their ability to do
business. Few companies, however, have the resources to
collect productivity-related data in order to quantify
this effect. Makgolo agreed that by keeping such data,
the private sector could help to shape public policy and
guide HIV/AIDS interventions in order to minimize
setbacks to economic growth and development. He noted,
however, that the BBCA as an institution was quite young,
established in 2004, and was struggling to meet its
mandate as it was.


6. (U) Makgolo pointed out that, according to the most
recent Botswana AIDS Impact Survey, awareness of the
disease was much more common than participation in
testing and treatment programs. He reasoned that the
absence of clearly-articulated policies regarding
HIV/AIDS in local firms discourages employees from
testing and, if positive, seeking treatment. Uncertainty
over whether an employer is likely to fire someone who
becomes infected with the disease forces workers to
choose between keeping a job and knowing one's status.
Many choose not to risk losing their employment by
testing or openly participating in a treatment program.
In order to alter this dynamic, the BBCA is holding
workshops, with the support of PEPFAR monies, to
familiarize managers with the value of developing a firm-
level HIV/AIDS policy and how to do so.

GOB FORMULATING POLICY ON HIV/AIDS AND EMPLOYMENT


7. (U) At the insistence of President Mogae, the
Ministry of Labor and Home Affairs (MLHA) has expedited
the process of developing a national policy on HIV/AIDS
and employment. With the assistance of the national
coordinator of the HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Program,
the MLHA and stakeholders from labor, government, the
private sector and NGOs have prepared a draft policy.
Milikani Ndaba of the Botswana Network on Ethics and Law
and Patrick Chengeta of the Botswana Federation of Trade
Unions confirmed to PolOff that NGOs and organized labor
played an integral role in developing the draft policy.
It lays out principles and standards of conduct relating
to equal employment opportunities, reasonable
accommodation of ill workers, testing, confidentiality,
and access to care and treatment.


8. (U) According to Kushata Mosienyane, HIV/AIDS
Coordinator at the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs,
two fundamental disputes arose among the stakeholders
during the drafting of the text. A number of
participants, including some government officials, balked
at the policy's proscription of pre-employment testing
for citizens of Botswana. Some Government
representatives explained that the GOB had encountered
major expenses when expatriates it had hired became ill
and/or died due to an AIDS-related illness. Objections
that this could be addressed through other means, such as
compulsory health insurance, notwithstanding the National
AIDS Council, chaired by President Mogae, agreed to let
stand this exception to the rule against pre-employment
testing.


9. (U) The second major difference arose over reasonable
accommodation and disclosure. Employers argued that they
could only accommodate an employee's health needs by
altering his or her duties if they knew the nature of the
illness that necessitated such an adjustment. NGOs and
workers countered that such disclosure is not necessary
and would violate international ethical standards. The
National AIDS Council endorsed the draft text which
protects confidentiality even in cases where reasonable
accommodation is required.


10. (U) Marianyana Selelo, ILO National Coordinator for
the HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Program, told PolOff on
June 17 that the draft policy must be reviewed by the
Minister of Labor and Home Affairs, after which it will
be circulated among the various ministries before Cabinet
finally approves it. She expected that a final policy
would emerge before the end of the year. That document
would then become the basis for developing legislation
relating to HIV/AIDS and employment.

TRANSLATING POLICY INTO REALITY


11. (U) As BBCA's Mr. Makgolo reminded PolOff, after all
the consultation and consensus building to craft a
national policy, it will remain a non-binding document.
Until Parliament passes legislation based upon the
provisions of that policy, the GOB, donors and NGOs will
have to persuade employers of the need to adhere to its
provisions.


12. (U) Translating policy into reality will be
especially difficult in the agricultural sector. Farms
and farm workers are dispersed over large and remote
areas. Moreover, farmers historically have been
reluctant to grant access to their property to allow NGOs
to assist their employees. The HIV/AIDS Coordinator in
rural Ghanzi District told PolOff on June 23 that farmers
are now beginning to voluntarily bring their workers in
for HIV/AIDS testing, suggesting a growing recognition
among farm owners that the epidemic will impact their
lifestyles and livelihoods. Given the murky status of
the rights of farm workers, much remains to be done to
protect their rights vis--vis HIV/AIDS.

COMMENT



13. (U) Thanks to programs like PEPFAR, the most urgent
needs in the war against HIV/AIDS, expanding access to
prevention and treatment programs, are beginning to be
met. As the number of lives saved increases, the GOB and
its partners must devote attention to ensuring the
survival of Botswana's economy. In order to develop the
appropriate policies to facilitate sustained economic
growth despite a high HIV prevalence rate, policy makers
will need more reliable data about the impacts of
HIV/AIDS and various prevention and treatment programs on
the labor force. USG assistance already is helping the
GOB manage some of the labor-related challenges of
HIV/AIDS. Mission will encourage the private sector to
recognize that its own interests would be served by the
development of a mechanism for generating reliable data
on the labor effects of HIV/AIDS.

HUGGINS