World AIDS Day 2019: Communities make the difference

The theme of this year's World AIDS Day on 1 December is "Communities make the difference". It recognises the essential role that communities have played and continue to play in the AIDS response at the international, national and local levels.

In 2020, 38 million people around the world are living with HIV, 25.4 million people are accessing antiretroviral therapy, and 1.7 million people became newly infected with HIV. In the last year, 690 000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses.

These statistics make it clear that the work is far from over. But the arrival of Covid-19 earlier this year, and the scale of the global response to it, resulted in attention and resources being diverted from other diseases, and HIV/AIDS was no exception.

Globally, there are an estimated 36.7 million people who have the HIV virus. Despite the virus only being identified in 1984, more than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.

World AIDS Day matters because it reminds the public and government that HIV has not gone away – there is still a vital need to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education.

In line with our Purpose (re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives) in Anglo American, we’ve been working to reduce the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on our employees, their families, and the communities in which we operate.

Every year we mark World AIDS Day to raise awareness and celebrate the steps being taken to reduce the impact of the disease. In recent years, we’ve worked with UNAIDS to tackle HIV/AIDS in all our operations.

Not only do we want to see our employees live healthy lives, but we want to see the end of HIV/AIDS as a major public health problem by 2030.

Our commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS supports the UNAIDS 90-90-90 Target. So, by 2020:

90% of our employees in high-prevalence countries will know their status
90% of those with an HIV/AIDS positive diagnosis will be receiving immediate sustained anti-retroviral therapy (ART)
90% of those HIV positive employees who are receiving ART will have viral suppression.

We are well on our way to achieving this target. Currently:

83% of our employees in high prevalence countries know their status
More than 84% of those with an HIV/AIDS diagnosis are receiving sustained anti-retroviral treatment.
Decrease in the number of people who have lost their lives to HIV/AIDs-related illnesses in the last four years.

Case study: South Africa

At Anglo American, we’ve been involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS for 30 years and since 2000 have been working to reduce the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on our employees, their families and the communities in which we operate.

In 2002, we became one of the first companies in South Africa to introduce HIV testing, counselling, anti-retroviral treatment and enrolment into treatment programmes for our employees, and later, their dependants.

Kedibone Lekoto (pictured), a plant operator at Platinum’s Mogalakwena mine, is an advocate for the fight against HIV/AIDS. She tested positive in the early 2000s and has used her experience to live her life to the fullest and to encourage those around her to get tested, know their status, and play a part in enabling the first HIV-free generation.