NOMINATION FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S AWARD FOR

UNCLAS PRETORIA 002441

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB/CBA NSMITH-NISSLEY

E.O. 12948: N/A
TAGS: BEXP EINV ELAB ETRD KSEP SENV SF
SUBJECT: NOMINATION FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S AWARD FOR
CORPORATE EXCELLENCE - DOW CHEMICAL

REF: STATE 66434


1. (U) I am pleased to nominate Dow Southern Africa for the
Secretary of State's 2005 Award for Corporate Excellence in

SIPDIS
recognition of its outstanding corporate citizenship and
visionary employment practices in the face of South Africa's
overwhelming HIV/AIDS health pandemic.


2. (U) It is no surprise that the world's largest provider
of chemical, plastic, and agricultural products should also
boast one of the most comprehensive and visionary health
programs combating the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 1989,
Dow addressed the emerging health threat with the same
tenacity that had become its trademark in building a $40
billion chemical empire. In South Africa, Dow anticipated
that the new disease would inflict a devastating toll on a
large percentage of the population. While many countries
were still trying to come to terms with what HIV/AIDS was,
Dow Southern Africa had already developed a company policy
and awareness campaign for Dow's 43,000 employees worldwide,
their dependents, and communities. Perhaps due to this
foresight, Dow's actual losses to HIV/AIDS from 1995-2005
were only 20 percent of the industry norm.


3. (U) Dow's HIV/AIDS comprehensive program is used as a
standard by many other businesses and includes the following
elements: senior executive support, awareness and
prevention programs, treatment programs, a business impact
assessment, and community involvement.


4. (U) Dow Southern Africa is tackling HIV/AIDS at the most
senior level. The Board of Directors is directly involved
in developing company policy and training programs for
HIV/AIDS. The company has created comprehensive awareness,
education, and prevention programs that offer workplace
discussion forums, peer group educators, in-house
counselors, and voluntary testing. For employees and their
dependents that become infected, Dow provides a nutritional
diet, anti-retroviral medicines, and treatment for
opportunistic infections as well as home-based care.
Additionally, Dow teams up with customers, suppliers, and
business partners to educate as many people as possible
about HIV/AIDS and to provide community-based care. Dow
Southern Africa currently supports HIV/AIDS clinics and
orphanages in Sasolburg (Free State Province),Margate
(KwaZulu-Natal Province),and King Williams Town (Eastern
Cape Province). Dow also administers "knowledge, attitudes,
and practices" (KAP) surveys to its employees in an effort
to understand how the pandemic might impact its business.


5. (U) Dow Southern Africa collaborates with the South
African Department of Health and NGOs to continuously
evaluate and improve its HIV/AIDS services. Dow's proactive
approach to helping its employees and their families fight
HIV/AIDS has helped Dow achieve some of the lowest HIV/AIDS
prevalence, disability, and death rates.


7. (U) In recognition of Dow's extraordinary HIV/AIDS
programs and their positive impact on employees, their
families and communities, Dow Southern Africa is nominated
for the 2005 Secretary of State's Award for Corporate
Excellence.

FRAZER