BWI: TERI-BSCD India Organises ‘Business Response to HIV and AIDS’ to Strengthen Public- Private Partnerships

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Friday, September 11, 2009 05:02 PM IST (11:32 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Environment, Social issues; Business: Energy companies, Media & entertainment; Healthcare
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TERI-BSCD India Organises 'Business Response to HIV and AIDS' to Strengthen Public- Private Partnerships


New Delhi, Delhi, India, Friday, September 11, 2009 -- (Business Wire India) -- Private sector is a significant partner in its response to HIV and AIDS, both in their capacity as employers and as leaders in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Over 50 companies along with organisations working in this sector discussed issues related to HIV-AIDS. TERI-BCSD (Business Council for sustainable Development) India, in association with GTZ (German Development Cooperation), organised a Round table Breakfast Meet on 'Business response to HIV and AIDS in India'. The focus of the meet was on building alliances, creating knowledge, updating partners and sharing of innovative practices by the private and government agencies along with civil society and other agencies working on this issue. Present on the occasion were Ms. Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, Chairman, Public Grievances Commission, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Ms. Aradhana Johri, Joint Secretary NACO India, Dr. Charles Gliks, Country Director, UNAIDS and Ms. Annapurna Vancheswaran, Director TERI.

While addressing the gathering, Ms. Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, said "Given the complexity of our situation, India attempts to juggle different public health priorities. However, health spend on HIV-AIDS has been constantly increasing. The impact of HIV-AIDS on the workforce, the threat to customer base and its impact on corporate reputation, motivates the private sector towards serious intervention and action on AIDS. The strengths of public and private sectors can be harnessed, and their initiatives combined towards the common purpose and mutual benefit of reversing the AIDS epidemic."

Elaborating the need for such meetings, Dr. Charles Gliks, said, "It makes good business sense to have a healthy and informed workforce and it is very encouraging to see this roundtable meeting what some companies have achieved in the field of HIV-AIDS. I do hope that one outcome of this meeting is that these successful corporates spread the word through their networks so that the majority of companies who do not yet have workplace policies on IHV know how to start and what to do."

Speaking on the relevance of such partnerships, Ms. Annapurna Vancheswaran, said, "TERI-BCSD India is a network of like minded and sustainable development conscious corporates that provides an ideal platform to share best practices of the member companies. Given the high complexity in the health sector, the roundtable today brought over several success stories across sectors in business efforts to combat HIV-AIDS and to promote healthier worksforce. "

Even though there are ample evidences of effective and efficient work done by the corporate sector in India on the issue of HIV and AIDS, there is still a dearth of networking and information sharing between them. Hence, there is a need for the leaders in the corporate sector to come together on a common platform to account for the plethora of activities initiated, major impacts accounted and valuable lessons learned by them. The meet highlighted the following four major issues that need attention this realm of private sector response to HIV and AIDS:

-- Cross sector partnerships required among the government, private sector, civil society and other important stakeholders for a paradigm shift in Industry's approach towards HIV and AIDS

-- Private sector strategy for strengthening existing public health systems

-- Key success factors for implementing an HIV and AIDS programme within workplace, community, business partners and Supply chain

-- Monitoring and evaluation of private sector approach and impacts

Participants represented the Embassies such as Embassy of Ireland, US Embassy, etc. and NGOs and INGOs like NACO, UNDP, ILO, UNAIDS, etc. working in this sector along with senior representatives from big companies like Coca Cola India, ACC Ltd., BPCL, Hindustan Unilever, Johnson & Johnson Limited, Punj Lloyd among others.

About TERI BCSD India

TERI-BCSD (Business Council for Sustainable Development) India is the regional network of World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Currently a network of 89 motivated and environmentally conscious corporate houses, TERI-BCSD India as part of its mandate takes an active role in creating platforms for the corporate sector to enhance their efforts towards a more sustainable path of production and consumption. For more information please visit www.teriin.org/bcsd.


CONTACT DETAILS
Mr. Rajiv Chhibber, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), +91 9810426698, rajivc@teri.res.in
Ms. Tushita Mukherjee, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), +91 9871204990, tushitam@teri.res.in

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL, ENERGY, MEDIA, HEALTHCARE

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