HIV/AIDS in workplace poses risk to labour, businesses

HIV/AIDS poses a serious risk to business houses and companies operating in Papua New Guinea.
There are many reasons to back this statement with the most paramount is that having a workforce infected with the disease would hinder the business’ commercial aspirations.
Officer in charge of Lae Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS (Lae BAHA) Rodney Mukinere explained the link of having HIV/AIDS in the workplace that would lead to increased absenteeism, increased staff turnover, loss of skills, decline in morale that increased demand for training and recruitment, with increased costs and expenses such as funeral costs then eventually declining reliability, declining reinvestment, declining productivity and inevitably loss of greater profits.
He said companies stood to have a reduced supply and productivity of labour, increased recruitment and training costs and eventually differentiation according to labour intensity.
“Lower domestic savings, lower investment in human capital, increased skill shortages while even the Government would have increased public spending on health with impacts on other spending and changing production structure impacts on tax revenues,” he said.
Mukinere said in Lae, companies that had active participation partnership with Lae Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS include Express Freight Management (EMF), Dulux Group, China Habour Engineering, KK Kingston, Trukai Industries Limited, Colgate Palmolive, Chemcare Group, Morobe Provincial Health Division and the Anua Moriri Day Care Centre.
“Although Lae City is the industrial hub, with more than 200 business houses and organisations, not many have shown interest to fight HIV/AIDS,” he said.