At a Glance / Aperçu

Ottawa seeks more business involvement in AIDS fight

Canadian Medical Association Journal 1996; 155: 563

As the number of AIDS cases increases in Canada, says Dr. Hedy Fry, the question is not whether businesses will be affected, but when. Fry, a past president of the British Columbia Medical Association who now sits in the federal cabinet, told the recent XI International Conference on AIDS in Vancouver that people with HIV/AIDS will have cost the health care system more than $100 000 each by the time they die, with businesses paying an additional $100 000 to cover employee benefit plans and facing additional costs to replace workers who become too sick to work because of AIDS. She also noted that the "human capital" destroyed by AIDS reached about $8 billion in Canada in 1995 and is expected to total $15 billion annually by 2000.

Fry made the comments while announcing a program that encourages business involvement in activities related to HIV/AIDS. Its first step is development of an HIV/AIDS policy in the workplace, which Fry said is necessary to deal with ignorance among employees. Companies will also be encouraged to provide resources for organizations dealing with HIV/AIDS.

| CMAJ September 1, 1996 (vol 155, no 5) |