Xstrata

Winner: Expanded Community Initiatives

REGION: SOUTH AFRICA

INDUSTRY TYPE: MINING

Xstrata Coal, in partnership with Re-Action, local communities and the Department of Health and Social Services in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, has successfully scaled up innovative community responses to HIV/AIDS and TB, extending the reach of the company’s comprehensive workplace program.

Goal
To contribute to the sustainable social and economic development of communities by improving access to public and private local health services that deliver effective HIV and TB prevention, treatment and care through innovative partnerships.

Program Scope
Xstrata’s community response program extends beyond the company’s workforce of 8,000 employees, to their families and communities in two health districts of Mpumalanga Province, home to more than a million people. The company has committed to multi-year funding with co-investment of its $2.1 million annual contribution matched with funding from PEPFAR.

Outcomes

In the first phase of community outreach work, 10,348 households have been visited by trained community outreach workers.
Families have been provided with practical support, health education, and the opportunity to receive HIV testing and counseling at home.
2,045 individuals received HIV counseling and testing, with 22% learning that they are living with HIV.
More than 80% of people known to be living with HIV in two health districts of Mpumalanga Province are now attending the company-sponsored clinic or government facilities supported by the program and receive comprehensive HIV treatment, care and support.

ABOUT XSTRATA COAL SA
Xstrata Coal South Africa is a subsidiary of Xstrata Plc and employs approximately 8,000 people, including contractors, at its thermal coal operations in South Africa. Xstrata Plc is a global diversified mining group, maintaining a meaningful position in seven major international commodity markets.

THE WINNING PROGRAM
Xstrata Coal’s community program seeks to extend the reach and effectiveness of its successful HIV/AIDS and TB workplace program, through which over 90 percent of employees have been tested for HIV. The company is working through an innovative partnership model with Re-Action (a professional services agency for health and sustainability) to help stabilize the health and welfare of its employees, their families and communities. The program is located in Mpumalanga Province, the ‘Coal Powerbelt’ of South Africa, where one-in-four people is living with HIV.

Xstrata and Re-Action work with government and private health service providers in local health districts to expand access to basic HIV/AIDS and TB services. Collaboration with community-based organizations and the government health department is essential to strengthening district-level primary health care services and health workforce capacity.

Through a community clinic built and funded by Xstrata and a number of existing public sector clinics and hospitals, the program has expanded community outreach services; engaged traditional healers; delivered community-based health education and training; conducted HIV and TB testing campaigns; supported
HIV/AIDS care and antiretroviral (ARV) treatment delivery; staffed and upgraded health facilities; and strengthened community TBHIV services. Xstrata’s contributions are matched by funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Enabling Local Participation
Through a partnership with the Provincial Department of Health, Xstrata works to strengthen public sector health services with district health management teams. This includes working side-by-side with traditional healers and training community outreach workers to conduct door-to-door visits for individuals and households at risk. Xstrata employees are motivated and supported as ‘health champions’ to extend the workplace HIV testing and treatment program into their communities.

Aligning with Government Policies and Plans
Xstrata’s programs are jointly planned with district health teams and are fully aligned with national and regional development plans and objectives. All service delivery and systems strengthening activities are also jointly planned with district health teams.

BROADLY APPLICABLE PRINCIPLES
Collaboration Improves Health Services Efficiency
Close collaboration between the partners, as part of Xstrata’s ‘public private mix’ approach, reduces duplication, identifies gaps and achieves efficiencies, such as improvements in the supply chain for ARV and TB pharmaceuticals for both public and private clinics.

Addressing TB Enhances HIV/AIDS Interventions
Tuberculosis is the number one killer of people living with HIV. By working with the district TB control program to integrate TB screening and HIV testing efforts, Xstrata’s program has successfully addressed the number one opportunistic infection for people living with HIV.

Commended Programs

Winner: Expanded Community Initiatives