MINING COMPANY FORMULATES HIV/AIDS POLICY (PAGE 40)

ANGLOGOLD Ashanti (Iduapriem Mine) Limited has formulated a comprehensive HIV/AIDS policy to help create a conducive environment in the workplace in order to eliminate the stigma and unfair discrimination arising from the disease.
The policy is also to uphold the rights and dignity of affected employees in effectively dealing with the epidemic.
It will ensure the prevention, as well as the restriction of the disease through education, the provision of condoms and the effective treatment of sexually acquired infections.
Under the policy, there will be Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) services for employees with their written consent, prescribed pre-and post-test counselling and a health care worker-patient relationship, and that results will be strictly confidential.
The policy will provide care for employees infected with the virus through comprehensive hospital benefits and the company’s Wellness Clinic, including the provision of anti-retroviral treatment.
Appropriate programmes would be implemented under the policy to minimise the impact of the disease on safety and health within the company, while it would also monitor and evaluate the company’s performance in its HIV/AIDS programmes, while working to continually improve its performance.
The Human Resource Manager of AngloGold Ashanti (Iduapriem Mine), Mr Kweku Awuku, who announced the policy at the re-launch of the company’s VCT programme at Iduapriem, said it would provide support for employees who would no longer be able to fulfil their role in the company through an ill-health retirement programme linked to home-based care programmes.
He said it would ensure that employees were aware of the policy and their relevant responsibilities by making such policies accessible on the company’s Internet website, participating in community programmes dealing with the epidemic, supporting a more broad-based approach and also partnering with all stakeholders to contribute to effectively deal with the epidemic.
According to Mr Awuku, the company acknowledged the seriousness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the workplace and also recognised that the sustained health of the employees was integral to achieving its mission and to the success of its business and that the disease represented a health threat in the company’s operations in the sub-Saharan Africa.
To this end, he said the company had promised to offer affordable health care for employees through the company’s facilities.
Mr Awuku stressed that the company was committed to prompt and supportive action in response to any major health threats in the regions within which the company operated.
The Tarkwa/Nsuaem Municipal Director of Health Services, Dr Jack Gali, bemoaned the attitude of some health workers who did not respect the secret and confidentiality of people who went to the health facilities for Voluntary Counselling and Testing on HIV/AIDS, but disclosed it to other persons.
He noted that people were prepared to go for the test but the attitudes of the health workers were preventing them from going for the VCT.
“Our inability to keep our mouth shut is preventing people from coming for the test,” he emphasised, adding, “They do not respect the secret and confidentiality of the people as they disclose their health status to other people with impunity”.
Dr Gali advised the workers to gather courage and go for the test.
He, however, noted that it was not the test which was posing a problem but the collection of the results, which was very difficult.
Dr Gali commended the mining company for initiating the programme, adding, “You are not only interested in mining the ore, but also caring for the workers and people living in your catchment communities”.
The Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti (Iduapriem Mine) Limited, Mr David Kwesi Renner, said the company had taken initiatives to ensure good health of its workers, as well as the host communities.
He, therefore, urged all the workers to voluntarily go for the test, stressing, “We want each and everyone on the mine to voluntarily go for the test”.
Mr Renner also called on those who had done it to encourage their colleagues to have the test done since it was in their own interest.
He further called on people in the host communities to go for the test since it was free of charge.
Dr Hayford Etteh of the Sam Jonah Clinic, the mining company’s health facility, said the HIV/AIDS pandemic had become a social problem and stressed the need for people to protect themselves.
Research, he said, had shown that the disease was more prevalent in mining areas, as well as border towns .
Dr Etteh said the company had psychological and social support for those people who would test HIV-positive.