| 8. Impacts on other sectors |
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HIV/AIDS is impacting on education through a number of channels. Shortages of teachers are occurring in many countries because of AIDS (e.g. in the first 10 months of 1998 Zambia lost 1 300 teachers, about two-thirds of the yearly output of new teachers) and spending on education by AIDS impacted families is reduced. Orphans are less likely to have access to education whilst other children, girls in particular, are pulled from school to assist in the care of the sick and dying. The weakening of the education system directly undermines the social capital of a country.
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As the HIV epidemic matures into an AIDS epidemic the patient load on already over-stretched state health services rapidly increases. The effects on health care systems in other African countries that experienced the epidemic earlier than southern Africa have been immense with up to 80% of medical admissions in some East African cities being HIV infected and hospital bed occupancy rates nearing 200%. A study in a South African hospital in 1998 showed that over half the beds were occupied by HIV-infected patients (Colvin, 2000). Because the number of hospital beds per capita has not increased substantially in the last 20 years, it has been suggested in published reports from Africa that HIV infected patients are displacing uninfected patients from hospitals with a concomitant deleterious effect on the outcome for these patients.
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Businesses, particularly those that are labour intensive, potentially face a range of negative impacts from the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Unless companies anticipate and take appropriate action, employee benefit (e.g. pensions, medical aids) costs may rise, productivity may decrease because of increased labour turnover and increased absenteeism (morbidity, funeral attendances) and markets may shrink.
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As mentioned previously, businesses can protect themselves from certain negative impacts if appropriate action is taken. For example, a study in 40 Zimbabwe factories showed that enhanced HIV prevention efforts can reduce HIV transmission and the associated costs. Another study in the South African mining community of Carltonville showed that by providing improved management of sexually transmitted diseases to miners and local sex workers, substantial savings were realised in terms of cases of HIV averted.
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However, companies are also likely to protect themselves at the expense of households. For example, in South Africa it is becoming increasingly common for companies to contract out their unskilled labour needs. By doing so, they relieve themselves from providing benefits to workers or their families and hence when a worker develops AIDS he or she no longer has any form of employment related social security net as the contracting company typically provides no such benefits.
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