This month BRALIRWA, a beer and beverages producer in Rwanda, and Donavant Zambia Ltd, were commended and given certificates by Global Business Coalition (GBC) on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The commendations that BRALIRWA received were in the category of work place testing and counselling on HIV/AIDS
The 2008 GBC Awards for Business Excellence are earned by companies that have demonstrated extraordinary commitment, action, and results.

These companies have had exceptional successes in putting their assets to work in the fight against three of the greatest threats of our time, and are having real impact on improving the lives of people and communities around the world.

In 2001, BRALIRWA decided to provide preventive and curative care for HIV/AIDS to its employees and their dependants, which greatly improved their work place conditions.

Dr J. Pierre Kabarega who is in charge of the program at BRALIRWA says the company was inspired to institute a work place HIV/AIDS program after observing a high morbidity and mortality rate among its employees in 2000.

"In 2000, we registered 17 deaths. 253 patients were hospitalized from 1999 leading to high absenteeism and loss of over 1,408 days due to sick leave which was a cost to the company,” Kabarega observed.

BRALIRWA’s HIV program is outstanding due to its comprehensive nature which includes tracking HIV-positive employees, coupling it with counselling.

Despite being a small company, BRALIRWA has successfully leveraged the resources and experience of its parent company, Heineken International, to deliver quality Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) to its employees
Kabarega says that today, BRALIRWA has initiated an awareness program on HIV/AIDS.

"Over 90 percent of our staff tests voluntarily and all we do is educate them about the epidemic and the importance of knowing one’s status.

So whoever is interested comes for counselling which we do before testing,” he added.

While the program offers fundamental HIV/AIDS services – including guaranteed ARV therapy for employees—it goes beyond the standard, providing on-site medical personnel, addressing the psycho-social needs of HIV positive patients and counselling employees directly on sexual health and relationships.

BRALIRWA partners with other players—including its parent company—to continually educate its doctors, nurses and human resource personnel on the latest ideas and practices in workplace HIV/AIDS programming.

The company focuses on the efficiency of tests and conducting regular testing on those who initially test positive to ensure that results are accurate.

Ends