AS managing director of Barclay’s Bank in Botswana, Christopher Lowe juggled financial concerns against the impact posed by the country’s raging HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Lowe, now managing director of Jamaica’s National Commercial Bank (NCB), said the deadly virus provoked a social and economic upheaval in the southern African nation. It even intruded into the executive offices at Barclay’s and other companies in Gabarone, the capital.

“There were always several members of the staff who were being affected: whether it was somebody attending a funeral; or somebody attending to somebody who was very ill; or somebody who was ill,” said Lowe, a native of Britain. He joined NCB one year ago.

“It was becoming part of the business; burying people, the funerals,” he said.

Barclay’s Bank fit such grim realities into its business routine, even offering employees a nurse for private consultations, Lowe said.

More than 35 per cent of Botswana’s adults are infected with HIV, according to UNAIDS, a joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS. They include men and women, rich and poor, labourers and college-educated professionals — regardless of sexual orientation.

Jamaica’s HIV/AIDS epidemic has not claimed as many lives, but it’s one of the worst rates in the region, and it is ravaging parts of the population. AIDS is the leading killer of Jamaicans aged 30 to 34, in part because so many cases go undetected, the Ministry of Health has said.

The Government, which has committed itself to keeping the virus from spreading, estimates that 24,000 people on the island are infected with HIV/AIDS. Last year, 132 people died of the disease, the ministry reported.

Upon encountering such numbers, Lowe had a sense of déjà vu. NCB, as a consequence, is joining increasing numbers of other Jamaican companies by incorporating the realities of HIV/AIDS into its business plan. (The Jamaica Observer has been preparing its own policy on HIV/AIDS, according to its Human Resources Department.)

Grace, Kennedy Group, a pioneer on HIV/AIDS polices, introduced written guidelines 10 years ago, according to Ward Mills, the company’s chief human resources executive.

“We were being pro-active,” said Mills, referring to Jamaica’s rising number of HIV/AIDS cases.

Companies with policies on HIV/AIDS share similar goals that include: keeping the virus from spreading through educational programmes; and ensuring that employees and job applicants with HIV/AIDS will not be discriminated against.

HIV can remain dormant for many years before developing into full-blown AIDS. The sexually transmitted virus cannot be spread through normal contact.

One reason for such policies is pragmatic: “The epidemic is spreading so fast, that businesses soon will not have much of a choice but to employ people who are living with HIV,” said Ian McKnight, executive director of Jamaica Aids Support, an assistance and advocacy group.

Like other companies, NCB accommodates HIV-positive employees who develop AIDS and, as a consequence, need more flexible schedules because of reduced energy levels.

“Our policy is that we don’t discriminate against any person in regard to disability,” said NCB’s Rickert Allen, senior assistant general manager for human resources.

“We’re very sensitive to the special needs of employees.”

Although NCB does not have a written policy in place, Lowe said: “It’s something that we clearly have to do.”

Matthew Prajnell, chairman of International Insurance Brokers in Kingston, said it makes economic sense to implement educational programmes to prevent the virus — and to accommodate people who have it.

“If we are going to lose somebody high-level, it will take years to replace the guy,” he said. His company is about to implement a policy on HIV/AIDS.

Unfortunately, too few companies have such policies, according to Clarence Clarke, president of the Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA). During a recent JMA board meeting, he called on companies to adopt such policies and to include HIV/AIDS in their business plans.

“I keep thinking that this disease, if not controlled, will result in the erosion of our workforce,” Clarke warned.

Citing statistics from the University of the West Indies that he called “alarming”, Clarke said the HIV/AIDS epidemic could cost Jamaica 6.4 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product or $70 billion by 2005. As a consequence, savings could plunge 23.5 per cent, investments 17.4 per cent, and employment six per cent. All of which underscores the need to stop the spread of the disease through education.

Lowe said that NCB would be doing this in the future, perhaps with a video on HIV/AIDS by Jamaican deejay/rapper Shaggy, which will be shown to employees.

At Grace, Kennedy, all 2,500 employees have attended a one-day course on “healthy lifestyles”, which includes information on preventing HIV/AIDS, said Mills, the human resources manager. The course is mandatory for all employees.

Mills said one of the course’s goals is to help employees protect themselves and loved ones by “understanding what (HIV/AIDS) is, and what it is not”.

Lowe said he hoped such educational approaches would produce positive results in Jamaica — before it was too late.

“There is the potential for it to develop here like it did in Botswana,’ he said.