ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL HIV AND AIDS POLICY
FOREWORD
Like many other organisations in the business sector the Zambia Daily Mail Limited has not been spared by the crippling effects of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) that it causes. The pandemic has taken its toll on the personal health and household incomes of employees resulting in low productivity and increased absenteeism from work. Medical bills have been rising every month while the Company has had to also contend with funeral expenses and debts owed to beneficiaries of the estate of employees dying of HIV and AIDS related illnesses. Critical resources that should be supporting operations have, therefore, been diverted to these unplanned expenditures and this calls for remedy.
By end of 2006 the national HIV prevalence rate among Zambian adults in the 15-49 years age-group, the very peak of human productivity, stood at 16 per cent, representing about 1.2 million people out of the national population of 11.3 million.
Unfortunately, the bulk of the Zambia Daily Mail Limited staff fall in this age group. The Company, therefore, regards HIV and AIDS as a workplace threat which requires a vigorous response. The coming of the Policy Roll-out Project under the Media Action Plan (MAP) for Southern Africa on HIV and AIDS and Gender provided an excellent opportunity to revive the Company’s earlier efforts to develop a workplace policy. It provided the needed guidance and technical expertise for the exercise. The Company will be guided by this policy and its guiding principles in its efforts aimed at protecting its workforce and business interests from the pandemic.
The attainment of our Company’s corporate vision will largely depend on the commitment and full participation of each one of us - members of staff - in the implementation of this policy. On behalf of Management I pledge the Zambia Daily Mail Limited’s steadfast commitment to the realisation of the objectives contained in the policy. I am confident that we can achieve our goals if we work as a team.
Leonard Kantumoya
MANAGING DIRECTOR
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
On behalf of Management, I wish to express our deepest gratitude to the partners of the MAP regional initiative, particularly the Southern Africa Editors Forum, Gender Links and the Media Institute of Southern Africa Regional Secretariat for including the Zambia Daily Mail Limited in the HIV and AIDS and Gender Policy Roll-out Project.
This policy has been formulated through a participatory and consultative process involving all key stakeholders including the general workforce.
I would like to acknowledge the contribution of the MAP Country Facilitator for Zambia, Mr. Charles Chisala, who competently guided our HIV and AIDS Task Team through the rigorous and highly technical process of policy development. The expertise and patience that he put in organising and formatting the bits and pieces generated by different sub-groups of the Task Team into a structured, standard document deserve special commendation.
It would be unfair for me not to recognise the efforts of the members of the HIV and AIDS Policy Task Team who always managed to break away from their deadline-driven schedules even at short notice to work on the policy. Without their hard work and personal sacrifice this policy would not have been finalised.
Gerald Musole
HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER
CHAPTER 1
1.0 BACKGROUND
1.1 Global and regional contexts
HIV and AIDS has become the world’s biggest political, economic and social challenge with more than 41 million people infected globally by the end of 2006. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the worst-affected in the world. At the end of 2005, there were 24.5 million living with HIV in the region representing 64% of all people living with HIV globally. In 2005 alone an estimated 2.7 million people in the region became newly infected with HIV and two million adults and children died of AIDS. (Overview, Sub-Saharan Africa, UNAIDS Fact Sheet – 2005)
1.2 National Context
Currently, 16% of Zambia’s adult population aged between 15 and 49 years is HIV positive. The infection rate is higher among women, at 18%, than men, at 13%. Because it affects the most productive segments of national populations, the pandemic has tremendously reduced workforces and reversed many years of economic and social progress. (National AIDS Situation Analysis by Gladys Ngoma, National HIV/AIDS/STI/TB Council, Chisamba, 2006)
This has been compounded by the rise in the cases of tuberculosis from 100 between 1964 and 1994 per 100,000 population to 40,000 new cases reported every year by 2005. The co-infection has also resulted in the deaths of patients on TB treatment by over 15% (National AIDS Council, 2005).
There, however, has been some notable progress. Latest reports indicate that the infection rates in a few African countries including Rwanda and Zambia are going down while the Government has reported that out of the 250,000 Zambians living with HIV and AIDS who immediately need treatment 80,000 are now on antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, more needs to be done because the pandemic continues spreading leaving devastation on individuals, households, communities, public and private sectors.
1.3 Institutional context
The Zambia Daily Mail Limited has felt the effects of the pandemic at both individual and corporate levels. The bulk of the Company’s workforce is in the 15-49 years age group, which is the most productive, yet the worst affected.
Medical bills have been on the rise, low productivity and increased absenteeism have translated into financial loss while the Company has had to divert critical resources from operations to meet funeral expenses and settle debts owed to beneficiaries of the estates left by employees who have died of HIV and AIDS related illnesses. It is against this background that the Company decided to adopt and implement a workplace HIV and AIDS policy.
1.4 Introduction
The media has not been spared by HIV and AIDS. The workforce of the Zambia Daily Mail Limited is at risk of HIV infection and needs protection while those who are already infected need support. The Company risks losing highly skilled staff to the pandemic, inevitably increasing pressure on its limited financial resources. Its coverage of HIV and AIDS has also not been consistent in the absence of guidelines and a structured approach, which this policy seeks to address. And despite its gravity and the widespread devastation HIV and AIDS has been causing, the coverage of the pandemic by the media in Zambia has been very low, at only 5% of all news stories. (HIV and AIDS and Gender in Media Baseline Study, 2005 – Gender Links)
Zambia adopted the National HIV/AIDS/STI/TB Policy in 2005 and has since been implementing it through the National Strategic Framework employing a multi-sectoral approach. Both instruments encourage the business sector, including the media, to contribute to the national response through adoption and implementation of comprehensive workplace policies that include prevention, treatment, care, support and human rights based coverage.
This policy is a product of the Media Action Plan (MAP) for Southern Africa on HIV and AIDS and Gender, a collaborative initiative of non-governmental organisations ( NGOs) led by the Southern Africa Editors Forum (SAEF) to help at least 80% of newsrooms in Southern Africa to adopt and implement progressive HIV and AIDS and gender policies by end of 2008.
The Zambia Daily Mail Limited is committed to contributing positively to the national crusade to control and reverse the threat and impact of the pandemic on Zambia’s population. The policy provides the framework for addressing the above concerns as regards HIV and AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and TB. Its outline consists of a Foreword; Acknowledgements; Background including current global, regional, national and institutional contexts; Situation Analysis; Vision and Goals; Rationale and Guiding Principles. Other areas covered are Objectives and Policy Measures on Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support, Editorial Practice, Marketing and Advertising; Institutional Management Systems and Implementation Framework.
CHAPTER 2
2.0 SITUATION ANALYSIS
2.1 National context
The population of Zambia now stands at 10.3 million people with an annual growth of 2.9 per cent (Census 2000). Currently, 16 per cent of adults aged 15-49 years are infected with HIV. The infection prevalence rate among women is higher, at 18 per cent, than men, at 13 per cent.
Tuberculosis is one of the most serious public health problems that have been triggered by HIV and AIDS. There are now in excess of 40,000 new cases reported every year and the figure is expected to rise by 10 per cent annually in the next few years. The co-infection has also resulted in an increase in an increased mortality rate of patients on treatment by over 15 per cent. (National AIDS/STI/TB Policy, 2005)
2.2 Institutional context
The Zambia Daily Mail Limited is a parastatal company which publishes the Zambia Daily Mail and its sister Sunday Mail. It is based in Lusaka with a workforce of 169 employees. The two newspapers have a wide circulation reaching all the nine provinces of Zambia. This means the workforce will expand rapidly to meet the increased market and demand for wider coverage.
2.3 Key Issues
2.3.1 Transmission of HIV
In Zambia HIV is mainly transmitted through heterosexual contact. Factors such as the economic dependence of women on men and high-risk sexual practices including unprotected sex, dry sex, anal sex and multiple sexual partners increase the risk of infection. The second common mode of infection is mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) before and at birth, or during breastfeeding. Other modes are through contaminated blood and blood products, use of contaminated needles and other sharp instruments and sex between men. Zambia Daily Mail Limited employees live in the communities and operate in the same environment where these modes of HIV transmission are prevalent, especially the first two.
2.3.2 Risk of HIV infection
Although the company has not conducted any HIV infection prevalence survey among its employees it is convinced that they are at risk just like other Zambian workers. Some of them could already be infected and the policy will enable the Zambia Daily Mail Limited to provide such employees with timely support to help them live longer, healthy and productive lives.
2.3.3 High mobility
Some categories of staff such as journalists, marketers and drivers are highly mobile because the nature of their work requires that they travel frequently. This increases their risk of HIV infection as they may be tempted to indulge in risky sexual behaviour away from their work stations and homes.
2.3.4 Stigma
Many Zambians are still afraid of undergoing voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for fear of being stigmatised. This has also prevented those living with HIV from disclosing and living openly with it. An attitudes survey conducted under the MAP Policy Roll-out Project shows that most of the Zambia Daily Mail Limited employees would not disclose their status if they tested HIV positive. Many believe that they are not infected despite not knowing their status. Stigma and discrimination targeting people living with HIV and AIDS in the workplace often compromises morale and performance. The Zambia Daily Mail Limited does not have a policy for addressing address this.
2.3.5 Information, Education and Communication (IEC)
Zambia Daily Mail Limited employees have not had access to consistent, accurate and interactive IEC to deepen their knowledge on different aspects of HIV and AIDS, and sharpen their coping capabilities.
2.3.6 Gender issues
Male dominance and lack of assertiveness among women in sexual relations puts both women and men, including Zambia Daily Mail Limited staff, at risk. Zambia is a male dominated society. Women are trained to submit to their husbands’ sexual demands even if they are involved in multiple relationships with other women while women have no power to negotiate for safe sex such as the use of the condom. The macho attitude with which men are brought up increases their own vulnerability and that of women and girls to HIV infection. In many cases in which the husband is negative and the wife positive, women are abused, chased and divorced, increasing their plight. Women also bear the burden of caring for the infected both in medical facilities and at home adding to their unpaid work. These factors have been helping to fuel the spread of HIV and increasing its impact on women and girls. There are no internal measures to mitigate this.
2.3.7 Transmission of TB
The advent of HIV and AIDS has caused an increase in the number of TB cases in Zambia. Factors supporting its transmission include HIV infection overcrowding, poor ventilation, poor nutrition and poor adherence to medication regimen.
2.3.8 Transmission of Sexually Transmitted Infections
STIs increase the risk of infection and are perpetuated by high-risk sexual practices such as unprotected sex, dry sex, multiple sexual partners and failure to report and track contact. Zambia Daily Mail Limited does not have any policy aimed at protecting employees from these risks and helping those infected to seek early diagnosis and treatment.
2.3.9 Impact of HIV and AIDS
HIV and AIDS has become a serious workplace problem which has been responsible for increased absenteeism, loss of productive workers, huge funeral costs, human skills replacement costs and poor performance. The media sub-sector, including the Zambia Daily Mail Limited, has not been spared. Some workers have suffered further from loss of income. Currently, the Zambia Daily Mail Limited has no specific allocation in its annual budget or safety net for addressing the problem of HIV and AIDS.