Maybe I am too naive, but it struck me that the World Bank concerns fighting diseases and providing health care a matter related to business and development and not human rights.

The report ‘Corporate Responses to HIV/AIDS‘ - released in July 2007 - says India’s private sector will gain considerably from supporting interventions aimed at preventing HIV both at the workplace and in local communities. The World Bank report, points out that that some of the hardest-hit countries with generalised epidemics may see their GDP growth reduced by about 2% or more annually.

Businesses have an enormous stake in the fight against the disease and, if left unchecked, it can rob them of their workers, their markets and their profits. Hence, they stand to gain from supporting interventions aimed at preventing the disease. The Report says that it’s a well-known fact that AIDS has a direct impact on a companies’ profits especially in countries where the disease is widespread. It results in greater absenteeism and staff turnover, higher recruitment and training costs, and higher costs in medical care or insurance coverage, and retirement funds.