Our next stop was at Daimler Chrysler South Africa, headquartered just outside of Pretoria, where we discussed workplace HIV issues and programs with the company's top management, peer educators, and shop stewards. Daimler Chrysler SA was one of the first companies to recognize that a comprehensive workplace policy was necessary to address the needs of the employees in the area of prevention, care, and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Our delegation was briefed by the Daimler Chrysler SA HIV/AIDS Project team: Dr. Clifford Panter, project coordinator and medical advisor; Mike Folan, project leader; Johann Evertse, management board; Mtutuzeli Tom, president of the National Union of Metal Workers (NUMSA); Nokutula Matyeshana, East London site coordinator; Neville Pennington, peer educator; and Andrea Knigge, consultant and project evaluator. A very enthusiastic team of professionals, they walked us through all aspects of the HIV/AIDS Project (HAP), explaining how it developed, what the difficulties have been and where it needs to go. Encouraged by the promise of an infusion of American dollars, Daimler Chrysler SA told of its commitment to addressing HIV/AIDS over the long haul.

During the site visit, Daimler Chrysler SA shared what it had learned very early in the epidemic, when the epidemic was just beginning to impact their production capacity: developing a response to the AIDS crisis was essential to the company's productivity. Understanding that AIDS was “costing the company” its human capital, Christoph Kopke, the chairman of Daimler Chrysler, made the case before the shareholders that investment in HIV prevention, treatment and training would help the company save lives and money. However, with South Africa facing a prevalence rate of 7.4% at that time, Daimler's leadership recognized that building an effective response would require partners — in the community, the government, and the private sector. And to that end, they formed the Business Roundtable on HIV/AIDS.

Our delegation learned from Dr. Clifford Panter that when Daimler Chrysler SA says, “HIV/AIDS is everybody’s business,” they mean everyone: from staff at the highest levels of management to union officials, employees, distributors, suppliers, shareholders, and dealers. At Daimler Chrysler SA HIV/AIDS is taken seriously by all concerned.

The comprehensive approach offered through the HAP was designed by Daimler Chrysler employees to address both immediate health service and prevention education needs, has been well received and accepted by employees and their families. HAP has adopted a message as its campaign focus: knowing your HIV status is about wellness, health, and health promotion. HAP has four programmatic components, each focusing on a specific objective: 1) preventing new infections through peer education services; 2) coordinating an integrated health care services approach; 3) improving management of HIV risk; and 4) increasing community involvement and public education.