Health GAP (Global Access Project)

12 MONTHS AND COUNTING:
COKE'S HIV/AIDS TREATMENT PROGRAM IN AFRICA STILL JUST A
PUBLIC RELATIONS PLOY

(Manhattan) A year after an international advocacy campaign
aimed at winning HIV/AIDS treatment for workers of
multinational corporations in Africa, AIDS activists
contend that Coca-Cola continues to stall rolling out
treatment programs with its bottlers in Africa. Coke is
being honored in Manhattan tonight at star-studded
"YouthAIDS gala" with an award from a social marketing
group, Population Services International's program, for its
effort to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, but to date its efforts
have been focused on publicity and signing agreements
rather than actually initiating treatment on the ground.

Coca-Cola first announced its AIDS marketing program in
June 2001 at a United Nations meeting on HIV/AIDS.
Although it started treating its 1400 core corporate
employees at that time, it neglected to address the
treatment needs of the other 60,000 Coke-system employees
who work with Coke's African bottlers and distributors.

Beginning in April 2002, Health GAP and other treatment
activists launched a worldwide campaign against Coca-Cola
for its failure to provide a comprehensive workplace
HIV/AIDS care and treatment program for its workers in
Africa and elsewhere who were employed directly or
indirectly by Coke's affiliated bottlers and distributors.
After demonstrations in New York, Washington, Atlanta,
Boston, and Barcelona in the summer of 2002, an October 17,
2002 Global Day of Action on four continents increased
pressure on Coca-Cola to commit to a comprehensive and
sustainable workplace treatment program. As a result of
this pressure, Coke announced an initiative to provide
antiretroviral therapy to workers and their dependents on
September 27, 2002, the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation and
Bottlers in Africa HIV/AIDS Healthcare Program. On March
31, 2003, it announced that it had reached formal agreement
with all of its bottlers.

Health GAP contends that Coca-Cola's cost-sharing and
co-payment policies and lack of commitment to directly
provide HIV/AIDS treatment have resulted in a dearth of
programs actually available to its system's workforce.
While nearly all of its bottlers enrolled in the program on
paper, today only 5 bottlers out of 55 have launched actual
HIV/AIDS treatment programs. These are Kenya, Nigeria,
South Africa, Tanzania and Egypt.

"Where's the real thing?" asks Sharonann Lynch of Health
GAP, coordinator of the "Treat Your Workers" campaign.
"Coke must acknowledge that the number of programs
implemented thus far and the limited enrollment of people
living with HIV/AIDS are indicia of failure." Lynch
continued. "Memoranda of understanding between Coke and
its bottlers are no substitute for actually ensuring
treatment for workers and their dependents dying every day
of AIDS-related diseases."

"Coca-Cola has failed to show its commitment by insisting
that bottling 'partners' cover 40% of program costs and
that employees cover another 10% and by not honoring its
promise that such 'cost-sharing' will not serve as a
barrier to participation by all bottlers in Africa,'" said
Amanda Lugg of Health GAP. "Bottlers are straggling
because Coke let's them get away with paper promise,"
according to Lugg.

According to activists monitoring the initiative, the cost
burden and lack of leadership from Coca-Cola are primarily
responsible for the delay in program implementation. While
other corporations, such an mining giant Anglo-American and
Heineken and medical or health professionals in charge of
its HIV/AIDS policies, Coke's program is still being run by
public relations representatives, namely Robert Lindsay, VP
of Public Affairs & Communication of its Coca-Cola Africa
Foundation.

"Coca-Cola must integrate HIV/AIDS workplace policies and
protocols into its system-wide operations and it must
threaten to drop bottling partners who don't comply," said
Brook K. Baker of Health GAP. "In addition, Coke must
provide a clear timeline for extending coverage for AIDS
treatment in Africa and must extend its treatment policy to
operations in developing countries outside of Africa,"
Baker continued. "Coke reaps unearned praise while workers
die; this is corporate complicity and sham compassion at
its worst."

Sharonann Lynch
Email: [email protected]
Health GAP (Global Access Project)
Web: www.healthgap.org