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INTERVIEW - Mr. Ranjit Shahani,
Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Novartis India Limited |
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| “Corporates need to institute
policies to ensure non-discrimination and the right to work” |
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| How/what do you feel about
the gravity of HIV/AIDS epidemic in India? |
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| There is much that has been said and written about the gravity
of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in India. What is of concern is that
95% of the people suffering from HIV/AIDS are from the developing
world including India. A recent report in The Times of India
put the figure of India's HIV population at around four million.
This is large by any standards. My concern is that this will
fast snowball into a serious issue for businesses operating
in India if they do not awake to the need to spread awareness
among their associates and put in place prevention measures.
AIDS knows no gender or economic levels and strikes anywhere.
Unfortunately most of those affected in India are in the age
group 15 to 49 which is the prime of their working lives. |
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| How do you see the future of India in the
context of an expanding epidemic? |
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| The government of India has fortunately put in place the National
AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) which has developed a program
in three phases to tackle the expanding AIDS epidemic. With
no vaccine or cure in sight in the near future, it is only awareness
and education that can help the disease from spreading. With
the coordinated support of government and private agencies I
am sure that India can cope with this problem in a mature fashion.
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| What do you think needs to be done expeditiously? |
| Awareness of HIV/AIDS is the need of the hour, particularly
to eliminate misconceptions associated with the epidemic including
among the primary healthcare community and general practitioners
as also to remove the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. Insurance
companies need to look at measures to insure people against
HIV/AIDS. There is also need for more support centres. |
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| What role can the private/corporate sector
play to help fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic?
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| It is estimated that India will lose between
1 to 10 per cent of its working population to HIV/AIDS by 2020.
A large figure by any stretch of imagination. The corporate
sector needs to rev up its gears if it wishes to play a role
in stemming this decline. A recent survey conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers
for Bombay Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Avert Society
threw up some alarming data. |
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| There was a substantial lack of understanding and awareness
of issues related to HIV/AIDS among the participating industries
and consequently the perceived risk was high. Further, 35% of
the respondents did not consider HIV/AIDS to be an issue of
concern and 31% wanted to adopt a "wait and watch"
approach. What is alarming is that 97% of the participating
organizations had no HIV/AIDS policy but 65% were willing to
spread awareness. What is heartening is that more than 80% of
the participants were willing to accept the serostatus of their
employees, maintain confidentiality and extend applicable health
benefits. |
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| Corporates need to make a beginning by instituting such policies
to ensure non-discrimination and the right to work, partnering
with NGOs to create awareness among their employees and sensitising
them to the issues involved. Until insurance companies are prevailed
upon to include HIV/AIDS among insurable conditions, corporates
should take the lead in ensuring that their employees have access
to appropriate treatment and care. Health camps for this purpose
could also be held. |
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| Are Indian companies demonstrating sufficient
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in HIV/AIDS? |
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| As the survey conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers showed Indian
companies have some way to go. However, what is important is
that there is a growing awareness among them with the leading
chambers of commerce and industry associations such as the Bombay
Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Confederation of Indian
Industry taking the lead. TISCO, Larsen & Toubro, Siemens,
Novartis, Bajaj group, Ranbaxy, SRF India and RPG Enterprises
are some of the companies in India who are known to have taken
the initiative in this direction. |
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| Has your organisation undertaken any HIV-related
initiative? If yes, could you please elaborate? |
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| As a forward thinking employer and as part of its Corporate
Citizenship initiative, Novartis in India has formulated a policy
for the management of not only HIV/AIDS but also Tuberculosis
and Malaria. This policy aims to provide employees and their
immediate family who are diagnosed with any of the three illnesses
with access to education, treatment and counseling. |
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| The company has resorted to direct mailer including the in-house
magazine to spread awareness. Small meetings have been held
at locations in Mumbai where the Medical Director of the company
has made a presentation and addressed queries on the issue.
Condom dispensers have been installed at headquarters in Mumbai
on a pilot basis with plans to extend these to all locations.
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| About
Ranjit Shahani |
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