Lifting the taboo on AIDS at work.

The U.S. government, through its international development agency USAID, has begun a program aimed at improving the treatment of HIV positive Mexican employees at U.S. companies, a move experts say will improve business performance, as well as being the socially responsible thing to do.

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The initiative, backed by AMERICAN CHAMBER/MEXICO and U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza, began this summer with a survey of human resources policies at 20 top U.S. companies here. It found that one-third of them have specific policies for HIV positive employees, far below the ratio for large companies in the United States.

It has taken decades to improve policies north of the border; it took a long time to persuade companies of the benefits of doing so given the stigma associated with this life-threatening disease. Most are now convinced, although many were forced in that direction by legislation.

"U.S. corporations are discovering the importance of talent. This has caused them to find new ways to retain it. Health care is a key way companies demonstrate they care," said Rich Tafel, a political strategist and executive coach who has also worked as a public health expert in the United States for the past 15 years. Tafel is working with USAID on behalf of the AIDS Responsibility Project, an AIDS organization based in the United States.

The survey is the first step in a longterm campaign to improve companies' policies and encourage local companies to imitate this in order to maintain their competitiveness.

AIDS is often a taboo subject in Mexico, partly because of its links to homosexual behavior, and also because the country has one of the lowest infection rates in the world at around 0.3 percent of the population, according to government figures. There are concerns with the data, however, as many AIDS-related deaths are falsely reported to spare the family embarrassment. There is also little testing for the disease, so most people don't know they have it until symptoms emerge.

WHAT'S IN A TEST?

The survey results are heartening, though there is still room for improvement. Few companies had specific policies, but all stated they have equal opportunity measures in place and none have fired employees for testing positive. However, two companies said they would decline to hire people who test positive during the pre-employment health screening process.

Most companies in Mexico use screening to avoid hiring pregnant women or others with serious medical conditions, as inflexible labor laws make this very expensive for the company involved.

Some of the companies surveyed, however, have hired pregnant women because they want the best person for the job and know that treating them in this way gives them motivated and conscientious employees.

"In Mexico at this moment of rising globalization, smart companies will have to polish their workplace policies in order to recruit the best talent, remain competitive and be winners," said Kevin Ivers, director of Center Strategies in Washington D.C. and designer of the survey.

All of the companies surveyed showed eagerness to understand the issue better and half of them asked for more guidance on their policies.

The survey showed that all the companies have some form of non-discrimination policy and 70 percent have insurance covering life-threatening diseases such as AIDS.

NUMBERS GAME

One of the biggest anomalies in the survey, however, is that none of the companies report more than four employees with the disease (and only one reported more than two cases). This is a statistical improbability given that they have 300,000 employees in total, suggesting most don't tell the company they have the disease for fear of losing their jobs or suffering other forms of discrimination.

This may prevent people from seeking early treatment and leads to much more expense in the long run for the company and its insurer.

Ivers says the best thing companies can do is have specific policies toward AIDS that guarantee confidentiality and fair treatment

"Adding a specific mention of HIV, with a specific pledge of non-discrimination, confidentiality and full access to medical benefits would strengthen the confidence of employees in being open and thereby ensuring better access to care, better health, greater productivity and greater retention of talent," said Ivers.

The program plans to survey large Mexican companies next, now that there is a benchmark for comparison, and offer advice to those seeking to improve their policies in ways that benefit both employees and the company. It is hoped that getting the companies to take the growing problem more seriously will save the country from the heartaches and headaches the rest of the world has suffered.

"The key for Mexican companies is to treat this disease proactively, instead of reactively the way we did in the United States and throughout most of the world," said Tafel.

RELATED ARTICLE: AMCHAM, CCE Form Competitiveness Committee

AMERICAN CHAMBER/MENICO and the Consejo Coordinador Empresarial (CCE) will be working together with the Mexican and U.S. governments to improve Mexico's global competitiveness. The Quadripartite Committee on North American Competitiveness was formalized at a meeting at Los Pinos on Sept. 3, during which Dr. Eduardo Sojo and U.S. Ambassador Antonio O. Garza, Jr. represented their respective governments.

As representatives of the U.S. and Mexican private sectors, AMCHAM and the CCE will identify areas where reforms can improve Mexico's investment climate and cut the cost of doing business in the country. They will work in close coordination with the two governments to implement recommendations and move forward with an agenda designed to attract more private investment to Mexico. Work has already begun on joint recommendations for changes in Mexico's Customs regulations.

The committee is a result of the Partnership for Prosperity (P4P) program--a public-private partnership created by Presidents Bush and Fox to generate new development initiatives in those areas of Mexico that have not benefited as greatly from Nafta as other regions. Businesses from both Mexico and the United States have participated in two entrepreneurial workshops sponsored by P4P and have found the conferences to be highly useful forums for promoting reforms designed to improve Mexico's competitive position. The downside of the P4P conferences has been that they are held only once a year.

Building upon the successful public-private model of the P4P, AMCHAM and CCE leaders proposed the formation of the quadripartite committee as a viable solution to the year-round need for continual dialogue between the private sector, both U.S. and Mexican, and their respective governments. In addition to Customs issues, the committee will be looking at mutual areas of concern, such as those related to energy reform, the rule of law, Mexico's maquiladora sector and other investment matters.

--Gary Deaton, AMCHAM'S policy analysis director

John Moody has spent 10 years covering Mexico for a variety of international news organizations. He now works as a freelance consultant in the private sector and for NGOs. He can be reached at [e-mail].