The Hindu Business Line : `Corporates have a big role to play in combating AIDS'

AIDS is a leading cause of disease burden in the country and the corporate sector has a big role to play in containing its spread and handling those infected with care, according to Dr Suniti Solomon, Founder, YRG Care, Chennai.

Dr Solomon, who has been working in the field of AIDS treatment, control and prevention for the last two decades in Chennai, was delivering the keynote address on the subject of corporate social responsibility at the second Srikanth Ananthanarayanan Memorial Lecture held at the Institute of Financial Management and Research here on Friday.

The annual lecture has been instituted in memory of late Srikanth Ananthanarayanan by his colleagues at Satyam Computer Services, Chennai.

Maintaining confidentiality and assuring continuation of employment are the two most important actions that an employer can take when an employee has been diagnosed with AIDS, said Dr Solomon.

The workplace can help limit the spread and mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS. About five million people are infected every year with AIDS.

The cost of treatment, which was expensive and unaffordable in the country, has come down drastically in the last 10 years thanks to companies such as Cipla, Ranbaxy Laboratories and Aurobindo Pharma, Dr Solomon said.

Medicines used to cost Rs 35,000 a month in 1986 but today it costs less than Rs 1,000 , she said. She complimented these companies for coming out with local versions of drugs used to treat AIDS abroad at low prices. For instance, the drug Combivir costs $11 in the US, but just $0.25 in India.

The lecture was followed by a discussion amongst a panel comprising Mr Visvanathan, Senior Vice-President, Storage Solutions Group, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co Ltd; Mr M.S. Sekhar, Managing Director, ThreeD Management Services Pvt Ltd; Dr Fatima Vasant, Principal and Head of Department of Community Development, Madras School of Social Work; and Mr Arun Sitaraman, President and CEO of EFFICACY, a start-up in California.

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