Eastern Cape wakes up to Aids threat

ED RICHARDSON SOUTH AFRICAN businesses – and particularly companies in the Eastern Cape – are fast waking up to the threat posed by HIV and Aids. According to the 2006 Grant Thornton International Business Owners Survey, the most concerned business owners live in Port Elizabeth and East London where 97% cite HIV/AIDS as having a sizeable impact on the growth of their business in the short term. In 2005, just 67% saw the disease as a problem. A 2005 IBOS focus group conducted in the Eastern Cape also found that business operations in that region appeared to be among the most affected by HIV/AIDS, according to Grant Thornton partner Adam Pincus. The Eastern Cape is followed by Durban (86% of owners concerned about HIV/AIDS), Gauteng (80%) and Cape Town (68%). In their efforts to control the effects of the pandemic, 65% of companies see training as the most important element in any HIV/AIDS management plan.