Gold Fields Ghana wins 2011 Global Business Coalition Health Award
On 2 June 2011, Gold Fields Ghana was announced as the winner of the Workplace and Community
Engagement category at the GBC Health1 Awards held in New York. GBC Health is a global business coalition
seeking to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria.
The award recognises the work of the Wellbeing Unit at Gold Fields Ghana – led by Charity Tuffour-Kwarteng –
which operates a comprehensive workplace and community education, prevention, treatment and support
programme. This wellness programme aims to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria within Gold
Fields workforce in Ghana – and within local communities.
The wellness programme has delivered encouraging results. In 2010, for example, Gold Fields Ghana recorded
significant reductions in cases of sexually transmitted infections (90% reduction) and malaria (60% reduction)
amongst employees. Likewise, 96% of Gold Fields Ghana employees have undergone voluntary testing for HIV,
which has suggested a prevalence rate of less than 1%. In addition, 150 workplace and community health
educators have been trained under the programme, and engaged with over 18,500 people in 2011.
In particular, GBC Health commended the wellness programme for two “critical success factors”:
- Strong cross-sector and industry collaboration: Gold Fields works with a range of stakeholders,
including national government, NGOs, unions and peers, to maximise the impact of the programme
- Outreach to vulnerable and most-at-risk populations: Gold Fields actively engages vulnerable
populations, including sex workers, artisanal miners and people living with HIV/AIDS, to expand the
reach of the programme
GBC Health is a not-for-profit organisation with a membership of over 200 businesses and organisations –
including major multi-national enterprises such as Coca-Cola, Standard Chartered Bank and Unilever. GBC
Health aims to apply its members' assets and resources to help improve public health – in partnership with
NGOs, United Nations agencies and government programmes. The 2011 GBC Health Awards drew candidates
from 82 companies who work in more than 50 countries. The awards presentation ceremony profiled Gold Fields
programme and featured dignitaries such as Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson and former UK Prime Minister Gordon
Brown.
http://www.gbchealth.org/
1 GBC Health was formerly known as the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria |