Sustainability website / Case Studies 2007 / Xstrata coal / HIV and AIDS public-private partnership

HIV and AIDS public-private partnership

This initiative contributes towards the UN Millennium Development Goals on HIV and AIDS, aligns with national and local government priorities and meets Xstrata’s Sustainable Development Policy commitment to encourage and support our people and the communities associated with our operations to participate in programmes which enhance their health and well-being.

Many of Xstrata Coal South Africa’s underground and open cut mines are located in remote rural regions. Having successfully implemented the first phases of its workplace response to HIV and AIDS, health and sustainability over the past four years, Xstrata Coal has now entered into a public-private partnership to extend its community contribution, partnering with local and international stakeholders, including national government.

In 2007, a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership agreement was signed between Xstrata Coal, Re-Action! and the Mpumulanga provincial health authorities. Through this agreement and working closely with the provincial government’s services, Xstrata Coal has supported health service strengthening in two of the province’s health districts. This has included upgrading infrastructure at primary care clinics and four of the province’s hospitals and facilitating the recruitment and retention of health workers. We have also collaborated with government managers to assist these facilities gain official accreditation as HIV treatment sites. This was a key priority for regional and national government towards achieving their goal of universal access to HIV testing, counselling and free treatment and has contributed towards improving services for a range of other health needs such as tuberculosis and malaria treatments.

A key component of the initiative has been to extend the systematic health promotion and risk screening activities into the community at the household level. This has involved a team of ten Community Outreach Workers, supervised by a professional nurse, who travel on foot, door-to-door, in their community. They have visited more than 8,000 homes and provided voluntary HIV testing and counselling to almost 3,000 individuals (23% of whom tested positive for HIV). In many cases, these community workers have assisted poor families to obtain documents to access government grants, have responded with palliative care and have provided other social support needs.

These Community Outreach Workers form an important link between the community and health facilities and continue to support community members who are receiving long-term anti-retroviral treatment. The initiative is also working closely with traditional healers, who are important providers of health and give direct assistance within the community – an achievement which has been recognised as ground breaking. The Department of Health and Social Services is now working with Xstrata and Re-Action! to extend this project into other parts of the province.

This innovative public-private partnership has successfully shown that business can work with both government and NGOs to invest in its workforce and respond to HIV and other health priorities in the community. The programme is already on the way towards achieving its aim of long-term social sustainability by supporting and strengthening existing community initiatives; facilitating access to available resources; bridging the gaps in service provision; and ensuring access to local government healthcare services. Due to its success, a number of other companies in South Africa are currently considering similar public-private partnerships in other provinces. Xstrata Coal has made a commitment to continue supporting this approach and future co-investment funding has already been secured.