The impact of HIV on firms in Zambia.

This study illustrated that illness among employees is an increasing public health problem in Zambia - the main causes of ill-health were tuberculosis (46.8%) diarrhoea (12.9%) and STDs (5.8%). The majority of these illnesses are those most commonly associated with HIV. Surprisingly given the extent of the problem data on the costs of health care were available from only three firms. These showed a cost per person ranging from 14 000K to 405 000K. Of these firms two had cost-sharing agreements with their employees (with the firm reporting the lowest cost per person treated covering the full costs of treatment). As no firm replaced workers on sick leave an important and growing impact is that of reduced productivity resulting from absenteeism related to sickness caring for family members and funerals. (excerpt)