Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS Honors Winners of 2004 Business Excellence Awards for Fight Against AIDS

The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS on Wednesday in Berlin awarded Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Coca-Cola Egypt, Siemens AG and Viacom International 2004 Awards for Business Excellence for the companies' work in fighting HIV/AIDS in their workplaces and communities, The Advocate reports (The Advocate, 4/22). Global mining company Anglo American received GBC's Leadership Award for its work in extending comprehensive HIV/AIDS treatment to employees and local community members in partnership with loveLife, South Africa's national HIV prevention program for youth (GBC release, 4/21). LoveLife combines a sustained, high-intensity, multimedia education and awareness campaign with countrywide efforts to establish adolescent-friendly services in government clinics and a national network of community level outreach and support for youth. LoveLife is organized under the auspices of a national advisory board of leading South Africans and is implemented through a consortium of South African public health organizations in partnership with the South African government and a countrywide coalition of more than 100 locally based youth-serving organizations. LoveLife receives support from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Anglo American, the South African government and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/7).

Other Awards
GBC honored BHP Billiton, a diversified resources company that converted its company-owned worker hostels into community and HIV care centers, for its innovation in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Coca-Cola Egypt received an award for excellence in the community for the HIV/AIDS awareness campaign it runs jointly with the country's Ministry of Health, UNICEF and student organizations. Siemens AG, an international engineering and electronics company, was honored for its work in preventing workplace discrimination and in treatment programs. GBC also presented global media company Viacom International with the Education and Awareness Award for "lending its powerful media assets" to an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, according to the GBC release. The award presentation was scheduled to include a keynote address from German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder. World Bank President James Wolfensohn, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Randall Tobias and Irish rock star Bono, founder of the debt, AIDS and trade organization DATA, also attended (GBC release, 4/21).