Public Disclosure Authorized
Public Disclosure Authorized




                               Healthgram “Staff Concerns about AIDS”,
                               September 19, 1985
Public Disclosure Authorized




                               NUMBER 045
                               ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 2005




                                                         January 2016
Public Disclosure Authorized
The World Bank Group Archives Exhibit Series contains exhibits originally
published on the Archives’ external website beginning in 2002. When the
Archives’ website was transferred to a new platform in 2015, it was decided that
older exhibits would be converted to pdf format and made available as a series
on the World Bank’s external database, Documents & Reports.

These exhibits, authored by World Bank archivists, highlight key events,
personalities, and publications in the history of the World Bank. They also bring
attention to some of the more fascinating archival records contained in the
Archives’ holdings.

To view current exhibits, visit the Exhibits page on the Archives’ website.
Healthgram “Staff Concerns about AIDS”, September 19, 1985

The Bank did everything to reassure the staff that they
could not contract the disease from others in the
workplace by casual contact and outlined the
precautions that needed to be taken while traveling.
Information on AIDS was distributed through the Bank's
health newsletter. Videos and printed materials were
also available through the Training Department
Library.

By 1989, the Bank had implemented an institutional
policy in cooperation with WHO, regarding AIDS in the
workplace. This policy specified that the Bank would not
require AIDS screening of prospective and current
                                                            "AIDS and the Bank", The
employees. In addition, the Bank agreed to treat any           Bank's World, March
staff member who had the HIV virus as it would any             1988. View enlarged
other staff with a chronic illness.                             document below.


First World Bank Projects on AIDS

The World Bank joined other international organizations in the global battle
against AIDS by lending money in support of projects focused on AIDS control
and prevention. The first project to receive AIDS-related financing was approved
                           for Burundi in December 1987 (credit 1862). The AIDS
                           component for this project included the implementation
                           of an information, education and communication
                           program, as well as blood screening for HIV
                           contamination, and collecting data on the spread of
                           AIDS.

                            The following year, a project with similar components
                            was approved for Brazil. In September 1988, the Bank
                            financed the National AIDS Control Program
                            Assistance Project for Zaire. At this time, about 6
                            percent of Zaire’s urban population was infected with
                            HIV. The goal of the project was to control the
Press Release No. 89/S14,   epidemic in order to prevent the human and economic
 December 1, 1988. View     losses that the country would otherwise experience.
enlarged document below.
Community Involvement

In addition to its global activities, the Bank was also leading local efforts to study
this disease. More than 50 local businesses and community leaders joined the
Bank in organizing a volunteer coalition called the Washington Metropolitan Area
Business Leadership Task Force on AIDS. The purpose of this taskforce was to
examine AIDS in the workplace and the business community’s response to it.
The Bank understood the importance of studying AIDS and educating staff about
it.

“The more we learn about this disease, the better able we will be able to deal
with it. Everyday we read about new discoveries, possible advances. We can
prevent the disease by educating staff about unsafe sexual behavior and the
dangers of intravenous drug use,” said Brigitte Sterrett, a nurse in the Heath
Services Department. (The Bank’s World, January 1989)

World Bank Today
Today, according to the latest UNAIDS/WHO report, the number of people living
with HIV exceeds 40 million worldwide. AIDS continues to be one of the major
obstacles to economic development and poverty alleviation in the developing
world. The World Bank is dedicated to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS
through financing projects addressing AIDS and fulfilling the Millennium
Development Goals. During the first week of December the World Bank is
observing World AIDS Day to continue raising awareness of AIDS and the effects
it has on development.