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The survey, conducted by the Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF) in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development's Health Policy Initiative and AIDS Responsibility Project found that less than 5% of the companies surveyed had HIV-specific workplace policies, suggesting there is not an adequate private sector response in place to deal with the growing HIV/AIDS problem in Tijuana.  However, some respondents from every industry sector told researchers they wanted help in developing effective responses.

"This survey shows that the business community in Tijuana is not ready for the impact that HIV/AIDS will have on the local economy," said Mirka Negroni, Mexico country director for USAID | Health Policy Initiative.  "They are only at the beginning stages of confronting the economic threat that AIDS poses to the region."

The survey participants were drawn from various sectors, including maquiladoras, hotels and tourism, pharmacies and local automotive centers.  Negroni explained that stigma and discrimination related to HIV/AIDS, which is evidently high in the region, is a major contributing factor to higher HIV infection rates and a serious barrier to reaching patients and moving them into treatment.  This raises health care costs in the region along with worsening the epidemic.  "Fear of job loss is a barrier to HIV prevention and treatment," she said.

"There are exceptional levels of investment in recruitment and training of workers, particularly among the maquiladoras, and without HIV-specific workplace policies in place, those investments are threatened by the rising infection rates," said Abner Mason, executive director of AIDS Responsibility Project, a Los Angeles-based organization that assisted in the survey.  "Stigma and discrimination costs businesses money, but adopting effective workplace policies will save money.  In the immediate term, excluding and firing workers based on HIV status increases costs through wasted recruitment, training and worker replacement resources.  Systematic exclusion of HIV-positive employees is also a long-term drag on the city's economy, as it will increase fear, therefore increasing secrecy and stigma in the community from which business must draw its labor, while sabotaging prevention efforts, increasing infection rates and creating a snowball effect.   It is in the business community's economic interest to organize an effective response inside their workplaces to eliminate HIV-related discrimination, safeguard confidentiality, move HIV-positive employees into treatment, and educate employees and their families on preventing HIV infection.   Given the alarming statistics here in Tijuana on HIV/AIDS, it is an urgent strategic investment that should be made."

Dr Jorge Saavedra, Director of Mexico's National Center for the Control and the Prevention of HIV/AIDS (CENSIDA) said:  "There is an urgent need for more companies to affiliate themselves with the National Business Council on AIDS (CONAES).  The experience of companies already affiliated is that much can be done to combat stigma, discrimination and homophobia in the workplace once the companies receive information, training and sensitization.  Some companies in Mexico are already setting the example for the rest of Latin America on how to approach this problem; however, regrettably the number of these companies very is limited."