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"The AIDS fight needs everything the business world can offer, from leadership to marketing, media, supply chains, organization and infrastructure, and most importantly, people," says Bill Roedy, President of MTV Networks International and Chair of the Global Business Council (GBC) on HIV & AIDS.

At the recently concluded United Nations Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the GBC announced the appointment of Richard Holbrooke as its President and CEO. The former United States Ambassador to the United Nations believes that the business response to AIDS is particularly important because it can cut through political and other constraints that bind governments and international institutions. He says, "Responding to AIDS must be a rule of good business, not an exception."

Twenty of the world's largest companies including MTV, Coca-Cola, Levi Strauss, Daimler Chrysler, Unilever and Standard Chartered Bank, have come together to provide a business response to the AIDS crisis. The Council's Blueprint for Business Action encourages the corporate world to fight the epidemic by executing workplace policies and programs within its own companies.

The business world has been facing up to the heart-wrenching reality of HIV/AIDS and realizing that it cannot ignore it, either as a social issue or an economic one. The epidemic has had a tremendous impact on both employees and customers, and is hitting the bottom line. Of the 36 million people world wide that are infected with HIV, most are in the highly productive age group of 15 to 49 years and their incapacitation is a threat to global economic stability and business interests.

Roedy, who has travelled extensively to HIV/AIDS devastated areas in Africa and Asia, talked about the issue of corporate social responsibility, and noted that businesses are adopting many different approaches to the problem. "One size does not fit all," he said, "There is no single way for a business to take action on AIDS. Companies can capitalize on their unique skills and strengths."

Speaking on behalf of The Coca-Cola Company, Carl Ware, Executive Vice-President, voiced the compassionate attitude of the business leaders who have joined together in this fight: "The devastating effects of AIDS on communities where we live and work touch us everyday. The business community must do its part and work pro-actively with governments and other stakeholders. We must utilise out best resources to help combat this deadly disease."

Dr. Otten of Daimler Chrysler, the newest member of the Global Business Council, expressed his heartfelt concern at the severe impact of HIV/AIDS on his company's huge South African operation, where many workers have been infected. Daimler Chrysler has responded with a multi-million dollar programme that provides education and complete medical care to approximately 23,000 people, not only to it's 4,400 employees but also to their families.

Another example of corporate involvement in the HIV/AIDS battle is The Body Shop, which has put HIV/AIDS onto its management agenda, not only in terms of a staff-training programme, but also through fundraising, public awareness and work with suppliers in countries of high prevalence.

Likewise Yahoo! has conducted an online campaign of banner ads and viral marketing e-mails to get signatures for a Global Call to Action put out by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IVI).

Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said that "governments and non-governmental organizations have a substantial role to play in the response to AIDS, but they cannot do it alone," and applauded the GBC for its leadership to the business community in this regard. As Roedy concluded, business is an invaluable ally in the fight against AIDS because it has the ability to reach every single person on earth.


FIND OUT MORE about how the UN and its partners are fighting to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Click on the links next to Bill Roedy's photo.

Photo credit: Robin Bowman/Matrix