launching of the pan african business coalition

After years of failing to mount an adequate response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, African businesses are finally getting their house in order.

The Pan African Business Coalition (PABC) was launched on Monday during the 14th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) in Abuja, Nigeria, and is expected to mobilise the private sector to adopt more effective HIV/AIDS programmes.

"The private sector needs to step up to the plate and take responsibility...going beyond the boundaries of existing responses," Brad Mears, executive coordinator of the PABC said during the launch.

UNAIDS regional coordinator for East and Southern Africa, Mark Stirling, welcomed the move, saying that the launch signaled a new era of implementation in Africa.

Stirling told PlusNews that over the past decade, the private sector had "delayed heavily" and had responded inadequately to the epidemic.He called for a culture of "zero-tolerance" against stigma and discrimination in the workplace, and for AIDS to be made a priority "not just in the boardroom but at all levels".

The coalition, which includes business networks from Gambia, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Nigeria, will also seek ways to expand the role that companies play in national AIDS campaigns.

Mears pointed out, however, that the PABC would only be effective if there was far greater participation from francophone and north African countries, as well acceptance of the network by national AIDS commissions.

But there are some good examples of strong private sector HIV/AIDS initiatives on the continent, he noted.

Global mining group Anglo American for example, received an award in 2004 from the Global Business Coalition for extending its workplace HIV/AIDS programmes into communities associated with its operations. AngloAmerican also has the largest employer-based treatment initiative in the world.

For Amina Oyagbola, corporate services executive at MTN Nigeria and a member of the Nigerian Business Coalition against AIDS, the bottom line is that companies' HIV/AIDS policies need one key element: "You need to take care of all your people - HIV-positive or negative."