Our vision

One of the greatest challenges facing managers in regard to this issue, is to be able to discern the extent of the pandemic's effect on them, from the enormous volume of conflicting and often inadequate data. The Second King Report on Corporate Governance (2001) has proposed that Boards of Directors must put in place strategies to deal with HIV/AIDS in the workplace. Calls have also come from trade unions, government and the NGO sector for businesses to standardise their measures, to launch a coordinated and cooperative effort against what has been termed "The Modern Plague". The AIDS Management Standard (AMS) provides this coordinated and standardised benchmark of company performance, and seeks to become a central component of corporate success strategy.

The AMS will establish a set of criteria for companies to conform to so as to be in a position to face the impending crisis well-prepared. Once conformance has been audited by an independent body, accreditation will be given in the form of a logo brand, which the institution will be encouraged to display on its pro motional and other material. This will help spread awareness through the market, and also indicates to clients, potential business partners and indeed all stakeholders, the standards of quality and preparedness that exist within the company. Beyond a mere damage control mechanism, the AMS provides companies with effective and practical measures to facilitate

• educating employees
• developing company policy to deal with human resources, supply chain, customer and general economic effects of the pandemic
• dissemination of the policies through marketing initiatives and supply chain compliance requirements.

In this manner, the standard becomes not only a way to deal with the problem, but also a source of competitive advantage for the company. As AIDS is such a problem, being well prepared is crucial to the survival of businesses.