(For details, see ‘CONTACT’, bottom left)
2. How much it will cost: Depends on the model .—a basic awareness and advocacy programme (many organizations offer free technical assistance for these), or one with added services such as anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and voluntary testing. Companies report an annual outlay of about Rs2-5 lakh for 2,000-5,000 employees (for the awareness and advocacy model).
3. What is included: Initial survey of all employees to gauge awareness and mindset, master trainer and peer educator training, role-play sessions and behaviour modification assessment are common components.
4. How much time it will take: This is no one-day or weekend seminar, but an ongoing effort. Also, to keep up with staff turnover, training needs to be continuous. Companies that already have HR training programmes in place can easily weave an HIV/AIDS module into their calendars.
5. Benefits: Direct benefits may include reduced absenteeism and increased productivity. In terms of corporate social responsibility, your reach can extend far and wide. A company may have 1,500 employees, but the programmes can cover the entire contractual worker fraternity (in some cases, as many as 50,000). A good example is Pepsi, which covered most of its bottlers and supply chain through the ILO programme).
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com
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Get help on HIV/AIDS initiatives for the workplace
• NACO (National AIDS Control Organization), at www.nacoonline.org
• SACS (State AIDS Prevention and Control Societies) — See ‘Quick Links’ on the NACO website
• ILO (International Labour Organization), HIV/AIDS India Project, at www.ilo.org/hivaidsindia — ILO has card games and posters, and downloadable resources for employers
• CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), at www.ciionline.org — Under the ‘Strategic Partners’ tab, find the link to IBT
• IBT (Indian Business Trust) for HIV/AIDS, at www.indianbusinesstrust.org
• PSI (Population Services International), at www.psi.org/where_we_work/india.html Staff Writer
Applaud
World Disability Day is on 3 December. The National Centre for the Promotion of Employment for Disabled People honours those working for equal opportunities for the disabled through the 10th NCPEDP-Shell Helen Keller Awards. This year’s winners are:
Best employers: • Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd • IBM India Pvt. Ltd • ITC Welcom Group • Mphasis, an EDS Company • Noida Deaf Society • PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd.
Role models: • Atul Ranjan Sahay, senior manager (improvement initiatives), Tata Steel Ltd, Jharkhand • Hari Raghava, solution specialist (banking), IBM, Mumbai • S. Amuthashanthy, managing trustee, Thiyagam Women Trust, Madurai • Shivani Gupta, director, AccessAbility, Delhi • Radhike Khanna, vice principal, SPJ Sadhana School, Mumbai • Shilpi Kapoor, founder-director, BarrierBreak Technologies, Mumbai. Staff Writer
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