Developing a public-private partnership with the purpose of stimulating broad private sector adoption of workplace HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in Thailand Categories Company: Industry: Country: Disease: Last Updated: American International Group Financial Services Thailand HIV/AIDS August 2003 Key Questions • Can the insurance sector adapt this model to drive change in other countries? • Is it necessary for American International Assuarance, Thailand (AIA) to estimate the potential long-term benefits of this sort of project, and if so, how? • What factors would most likely drive higher uptake of the AIDS-Response Standard Organization (ASO) project (e.g. direct government support, industry-wide sponsorship, larger financial incentive)?  Download the full American International Group (AIG) HIV/AIDS Thailand Case Study or preview the first page below: Case Study Executive Summary Overview American International Group (AIG) is one of the world’s largest insurance firms. American International Assurance, Thailand (AIA) is a subsidiary of AIG. AIG is one of the world’s leading international insurance and financial services organizations, with operations in approximately 130 countries and jurisdictions. AIG member companies serve commercial, institutional and individual customers through worldwide property-casualty and life insurance networks. In the United States, AIG companies underwrite commercial and industrial insurance, and AIG American General is a top-ranked life insurer. AIG’s global businesses also include financial services, retirement savings and asset management. In 2002, AIG’s 80,000 employees generated US$ 67 billion in revenues and US$ 5.5 billion in net income. AIA is Thailand’s largest insurance company, with a primary focus on life insurance products. In 2003, AIA had 1,400 employees, 48,000 agents, 5,500 agency leaders and had active policies for more than three million people in Thailand. In 2000, AIA estimated that this corresponds to approximately half of the market share of insurance premiums in Thailand. Business Case The vision of AIA’s HIV/AIDS programme is to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on its main stakeholders, which include AIA staff, customers and the communities where they live and work. AIA has made sustained investments in HIV/AIDS projects aimed at its employees, other businesses and the community at large, as part of its belief in the principles behind corporate social responsibility, coupled with a desire to manage the potential business risk of HIV/AIDS on its customers. AIA’s reliance on the actions of other businesses led the company to co-sponsor the AIDS-Response Standard Organization (ASO) project. Given that the ASO project required the active participation of a significant number of businesses to succeed, it was necessary for AIA to learn which techniques were successful in recruiting companies to join the ASO project. The largest number of companies that joined because it was ‘the right thing to do,’ were contacted through existing senior-level personal relationships and had more than 300 employees. AIA’s overall workplace, the ASO project and the community budget for HIV/AIDS programmes was US$ 56,179 (2.5 million baht) from 1999 to 2002. Programme Description AIA co-sponsored the ASO project, which directly encouraged 125 businesses to implement HIV/AIDS prevention programmes. AIA also participated in the ASO project as ‘client’ company and correspondingly implemented an HIV/AIDS workplace prevention programme. Along with the Thailand Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (TBCA) and the Population Council, AIA was a co-sponsor of the ASO project with the aim of encouraging the private sector to create HIV/AIDS-friendly workplaces by providing life insurance premium bonuses of 5-10 % to companies with workplace prevention activities. As a ‘client’ of the ASO project, AIA held an exhibition on HIV/AIDS for its workers. It also distributed HIV/AIDS information and condoms which they received from TBCA. AIA does not have a written HIV/AIDS-specific policy. AIA believes that existing non- HIV/AIDS specific company policies adhere to the principles behind the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Code of Practice. Programme Evaluation AIA’s workplace programme is evaluated through externally administered assessments. AIA’s employees are surveyed with a Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) assessment, and the company is interviewed by TBCA annually. The results are evaluated and a score is assigned by the Population Council. AIA’s score was 37/100 in the first round (September 1999) and 62/100 in the second round (March 2002). Company scores are based on criteria described later in this case example. In addition to evaluating individual workplace programme effectiveness, the project sponsors conducted research to determine "whether or not financial incentives can be used to encourage the private sector to become actively involved in developing and improving workplace HIV/AIDS programmes." The sponsors learned the following lessons: Financial rewards were not the only motivating factor for companies joining the project. Nearly 90% of companies joined for reasons other than the direct financial incentives. Participation lead to programme improvement. Eighty-two percent of companies improved their evaluation score between the two rounds. Documents American International Group (AIG) HIV/AIDS Thailand Case Study (PDF format; 5 pages; 45k) Asian Business Coalition (ABC) AIA/AIG Thailand Project Summary (PDF format; 18 pages; 200k)

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