Fighting HIV/AIDS together

In Africa as well as in France, CFAO came up with a number of initiatives on 1st December 2008, to remind people that HIV/AIDS continues to make many victims, even though the number of persons receiving treatment increases every year.

 

Although HIV/AIDS is less talked about these days, the figures given by the UNAIDS are there to remind us that the illness continues to take a terrible toll.

In 2008, 33.2 million people were living with HIV/AIDS as against 29 million in 2001. Nearly 2.5 million new cases were recorded in 2007 and 2.1 million persons died. With 1.7 million new cases of infection in 2007, sub-Saharan Africa is the region most affected. 76% of deaths due to HIV/AIDS in 2007 took place in this region.

 

That is why CFAO decided to renew its efforts once again on the occasion of the 21st World Day of action against this curse.

Alain Viry, Chairman and CEO of CFAO, in a letter addressed to the management, stressed the importance of this fight for the company, which reckons that 1.5% of its African workers are HIV positive. He called on everyone to support this help program and took the occasion to personally thank all those who gave their time and energy to fight this pandemic in their countries.

 

This is a fight which has to start from better information on risky behaviours and the correct measures to take.

In Sèvres, at the CFAO Head Office in Paris, canteen table mats were brought into service for the second year running, with a drawing by Jul. A mini quiz of 9 questions and 3 characters allows employees of Sèvres and Rouen offices to test their knowledge concerning protection. The anonymous replies to this questionnaire were used by ARCAT association, their partner in the operation, to draw up an appraisal of the level of awareness about HIV/AIDS and adapt its prevention measures.
In the Centrafrican Republic, a documentary on the stigma and discrimination which affects persons living with AIDS was screened to all the staff, followed by a very animated debate.
In Togo, pharmacists and their employees were invited by Uniphart, the local subsidiary which distributes medicines, to take part in a running race called “The Hope Marathon”.
In Madagascar, posters were distributed and in Benin, the campaign included condom demonstrations, question and answer games, and a film and discussion with a person living with the disease.

 

And finally, the SIDA-ENTREPRISES association (“AIDS UNDERTAKINGS”) launched a contest aimed at elected the best action undertaken in 2008 in the framework of the fight against HIV / AIDS by all branches of member companies. 8 CFAO subsidiaries took part in the contest. One of them could win an investigation "Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices" (CAP), to assess the progress of actions and measure the impact of prevention.

 

These actions are typical of the HIV/AIDS prevention program which CFAO has been developing since 2003 and more than 550 peer educators were trained since the programme was launched. In 2008, 10,000 employees were directly involved, 40,000 if one includes the dependents of the company's employees, 44,000 condoms distributed every month and 150 persons have received medical treatment, half of them receiving antiretroviral treatments.