India

Report on

One Day Advocacy and

Sensitization Workshop for
Corporate & Business
Associations on
Mainstreaming HIV
At
Chamber Bhawan,
Rajasthan Chamber of Commerce & Industry Jaipur
16th February, 2008

Organised by

State Mainstreaming Unit

RSACS, Jaipur

In collaboration of

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 Rajasthan Chamber of Commerce &
Industry, Jaipur
And
Mainstreaming Cell, National AIDS Control
Organisation

Agenda for Corporate workshop:

• Develop common understanding of Mainstreaming
HIV interventions
• Identify key activities to strengthen Mainstreaming
HIV at
Industry Level
• Discuss and identify Industry specific roles and
responsibilities
to facilitate the mainstreaming process
• Assist industries in developing the sector specific
work-plans

State Mainstreaming Unit at RSACS:

• Mr. Ashok Raisinghani , Project Officer,
Mainstreaming Unit, RSACS
• Ms. Ritu Pandya, Sector Coordinator - CBO,
Mainstreaming Unit, RSACS
• Ms. Madhu Sharma, Project Assistant(Admin),
Mainstreaming Unit, RSACS

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Resource Persons:
 Dr. K. L. Jain, General Secretary, Rajasthan
Chamber of Commerce & Industry (RCCI), Jaipur
 Dr. M. L. Jain, Director (AIDS), Directorate,
Medical & Health Services, Jaipur
 Dr. Nupur Prasad, Dy. Director, RSACS, Jaipur
 Mr. P. V. Narayanan, Sector Specialist (Private
Sector), NACO-MS Cell, Delhi
 Dr. L. Ramakrishnan, Country Director, SAATHII
(MRU), Chennai

Members Attended:

 50 representatives from Different Corporates and

business associations like: Shri Cement, Suzlone

Energy, Autolite India Ltd., Hindustan Zinc Ltd.,
Khetan & Company, All India Wool & Namda
Asociation, J K Laxmi Cement etc. from 6 districts i.e
Ajmer, Alwar, Barmer, Udaipur, Jaipur & Jodhpur.

Structure of Workshop

• Presentations and speech by speakers/presenters

• Each session is followed by Q & A, which is
included in the allotted time.

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Inaugural Session

Workshop was started with a small welcome intro and

registration formalities of all the participants, which was
facilitated by Mainstreaming team.
One display board on concept of Mainstreaming HIV
was placed at the workshop place to inform
participants about mainstreaming HIV. This display has
helped a lot to improve the participants understanding on
the issue.
After registration, workshop was followed by a welcome
session of the chief guests and key speakers of the
workshop. Flower garlands were presented to Dr. K.L. Jain
(Secretary RCCI), Dr. M.L. Jain (Director AIDS), Dr. L.
Ramakrishnan & Mr. P.V. Narayanan.

Technical session-1 Conceptual

Understanding of Mainstreaming HIV

The session was started with the presentation of Dr. L.

Ramakrishnan from SAATHII on conceptual understanding of
Mainstreaming. He shared the basic understanding of
Mainstreaming in any sector whether it is gender, disability
or HIV. In his presentation, he explained the below
mentioned issues:-
• What is Mainstreaming HIV?

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 • Who will bear the responsibility of mainstreaming HIV?

• Who are the focal sectors?

• Where will the mainstreaming take place?
• Why mainstream HIV in the business sector?
• When will mainstreaming HIV in the business sector

take place?
• How to mainstream HIV/AIDS in the business sector?

Dr. L. Ramakrishnan, Country Director, SAATHII, sharing the

concept of Mainstreaming HIV

He also shared some examples of the effect of the HIV/AIDS

on business sector like increase in the Employee Insurance,
treatment cost, increased cost of training and recruitment
and increased absenteeism etc.

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 WHY MAINSTREAM HIV IN THE BUSINESS
SECTOR?

Loss of skills and

experience
Reduced supply of
The impact labour
on
•
enterprises Rising labour costs

Falling productivity
Reduced profit and
investment
(ILO)
Rajasthan SMU+MR U: F eb 16,
2008

He has thrown lights on some possible ways of

Mainstreaming HIV in the business sector like Sensitization,
Capacity Building (training), Stigma reduction in the
workplace and promotion of uptake of ICTC at workplace etc.
He has shared some ideas for mainstreaming HIV at
workplace, these ares-

 Human Resource Policies for non-discrimination,

confidentiality and welfare of people living with
HIV/AIDS
 Promoting ethical and confidential Voluntary
Counseling and Testing within workplaces
 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in
HIV/AIDS

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Technical session-2 Basics of HIV/AIDS &
Vulnerability factors for Rajasthan
Dr. Nupur Prasad, Dy. Director (RSACS), presented to the
audience sensitization on issues related to HIV/AIDS
transmission and prevention. She gave an in-depth
understanding of HIV/AIDS in her presentation. Her
presentation covered the following in detail: -
 What is HIV/AIDS?
 What is the difference between HIV & AIDS?
 HIV Life-cycle and dynamics of HIV Transmission
 Clinical Stages of HIV
 What does HIV-positive mean?
 What is comprehensive HIV/AIDS Care?

Dr. Nupur, presenting the Dynamics of HIV

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She addressed the process of HIV Infection, causes of
infection, myths and misconception related to HIV/AIDS and
stigma reduction issues in detail.
She briefed the causes of HIV –AIDS i.e. “probable sources of
HIV transmission, dynamics of HIV transmission”. She also
shared some facts and figures regarding the HIV vulnerability
in Rajasthan due to 19% of all mines in India, with 0.5 million
miners, 25,000 trucks every day on NH 8 & 25% of all
tourism in India comes to Rajasthan. The data about the HIV
cases in Rajasthan shared by her was very valuable for the
participants.

Workshop participants listening to the speakers with full

concentration

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Technical Session -3 Potential role of
Industries for mainstreaming HIV
Mr. P V Narayanan, Sector Specialist (Private Sector),
Mainstreaming Cell, NACO, presented on the need for
business sector in Rajasthan to undertake mainstreaming in
their place of work and as part of corporate social
responsibility.
It was also shared by him that industries have an important
and very special role to play in mainstreaming HIV. He
explained the impact of HIV/AIDS on Business sector, i.e.-
• Of the approximate (July 2004/ILO study) 38 million HIV-

positive people worldwide, at least 26 million are of

working age, meaning that the pandemic has been
"devastating" in areas where it affects "huge swathes of
the work force," according to the Times, UK
• Research by the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS

shows that gross domestic product falls 2% to 3% when

HIV prevalence rates rise above 10%
• Of the 200 Global Business Coalition members, about 60%

currently pay for employee HIV/AIDS care and treatment,

and remaining members pay for prevention and education
programs. However, (Plimmer, Financial Times, 5/12).

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P.V. Narayanan sharing the Business Response needed for HIV

He explained that semi-skilled and un-skilled are especially

vulnerable for getting infection of HIV due to-
 Low or no awareness
 Living away from home for long durations
 Access to free or subsidized alcohol and tendency for
alcohol abuse;
 Frequent travel outside one’s permanent place of work;
 Location in border towns or transit areas;
 Industry dominated by seasons
 Availability of sexual partners
 Peer Influence

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He mentioned in his presentation that very few persons have
correct knowledge about HIV/AIDS. According to a study
done by MAC AIDS FUND 2007, “…79% of Indians
surveyed understood that AIDS is always fatal, a high
59% wrongly believed that there is a cure for HIV
available today”.

Business sector is almost not aware of the impact of HIV on

their business and day to day operations. According to a
study published by Global Health Initiative that “Just 7% of
Indian companies expect HIV/AIDS to have any serious
impact on their operations. Another 18% expect some
negative fallout, while 80% do not expect any adverse
consequences from HIV/AIDS on their businesses”

He emphasized in his presentation that business sector can

play a very significant role in mainstreaming HIV at their
organization level and at community level also. He
presented in detail examples of the initiatives taken by some
leading corporate of Rajasthan to address the HIV issue at
their organization as well as community level like DCM
Shriram Consolidated Limited – Kota, Apollo Tyres Ltd.-
Udaipur & Jaipur and Cairn Energy- Barmer etc.

He spelled out in detail the meaning of the 10 ILO principles

of workplace intervention, problems of stigma and

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discrimination. He also informed the audience about a
sizeable rise in expenditure for those affected by HIV.

He presented to the audience a roadmap for adoption of

HIV/AIDS intervention, exploring possible ways of
mainstreaming HIV at implementation level, such as
 Communication to SACS
 Nodal Officer from Each Company*
 Budget Allocation
 Bring out a Report
*Who could also act as an Anti-Stigma Counselor
“The best time to act is when the HIV
prevalence is low”
Mr. P.V. Narayanan towards the close of the
session informed the participants from
business sector that this session was specially
focused on their cooperation in national efforts
of containing HIV/AIDS and they must seriously
consider inclusion of HIV/AIDS for the
workplace. He informed the audience to be in
touch with Mr. Ashok Raisinghani and his team
at Rajasthan SACS for further collaboration.

Chief Guest’s Address

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Dr. K.L. Jain, General Secretary-RCCI and Chief Guest of the
workshop delivered his lecture. He also shared some of the
possible ways of Mainstreaming HIV at industry level. He
came forward to motivate his business associates and
association members for mainstreaming HIV. He said that he
will also facilitate the process of mainstreaming HIV at
different workers Unions as this is the most effective
strategy to address the HIV issue at workplace. He also
urged to the representatives of different Industries to come
forward to join hands against AIDS and keep their workplace
HIV free.

He also requested to RSACS & SMU to provide some IEC

Material on HIV/AIDS to publish in monthly news letter of
RCCI at no cost basis and to display at strategic locations of
different industrial setups.

Address by Chairperson
After the Dr. K.L. Jain’s speech, Dr. M.L. Jain, Director (AIDS)
and chairperson of this workshop was invited to share RSACS
Vision on Mainstreaming and the services offered by RSCAS
at state and district level. He said that RSACS and
Government are. ready to extend their help for
Mainstreaming HIV at Industry level. RSACS can facilitate the
process at state and district level also. RSACS officials will

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always provide their assistance and technical competencies
whenever and wherever it is required.

He also shared the information on the services available at

state level and district level like ICTC, ART Centers, STD
Clinics, Community Care Centers, Drop-in Centre, Blood
Banks and Condom Vending Machines etc.

Dr. M.L. Jain, Director (AIDS) addressing the guests

Question and Answer Session

Though the workshop was fully participatory in nature, most
of the questions were asked during the last session of the
workshop. Quarries raised by participants were related to the
process, strategies and activities needed for Mainstreaming
HIV. How they will incorporate HIV issues in their existing
progammes, what strategies will they adopt for the same.
Some of the queries were like-

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Ms. Sushma from Hindustan Zink Pvt. Limited
(Vedanta) raised the question related to the acceptance of
the issue of HIV at workers union level. Mr. P.V. Narayanan
clarified that the five central trade unions have also signed a
statement of commitment on HIV/AIDS. Dr. K.L. Jain has
pacified her query and said that the first emphasis should be
on the unions and they have to be involved at each and
every step.

Mr. Sanjeev Bhardwaj from Suzlon Energy Limited

asked that they would be very enthusiastic to do it at their
organization level but if we want to convince at National
level whether there will be any assistance from your side. Mr.
P V. Narayanan answered his question that he can volunteer
for doing this at National level. He also added that the
company and the responsible person have to take the lead
and mainstreaming team can facilitate the process.

Ms. Aradhana from Autolite India Limited also placed

her query that what process or strategies are needed to
incorporate the issue of HIV/AIDS and how they can start the
process of Mainstreaming HIV at their organization level. Dr.
M.L. Jain answered her question that they can contact State
Mainstreaming Unit at RSACS for support and guidance.

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At the end, Mr. Ashok Raisinghani, Project Officer- SMU,
has thanked to all guests, speakers, Dr. K.L. Jain, Dr. M.L.
Jain, Mr. P. V. Narayanan and Dr. L. Ramakrishnan for
providing their valuable time and inputs to make this
workshop successful.
He specially thanked to all corporates and RCCI staff for their
cooperation and noble initiative for Mainstreaming HIV.
The workshop was formally ended with feed back from
participants and with good wishes, followed by lunch.

With collective effort, we can walk free from the

fears and myths of HIV/AIDS

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