HNB and DFCC continue to support Lanka Business Coalition’s AIDS awareness program

Banking giants Hatton National Bank and DFCC recently pledged their continuous support towards Lanka Business Coalition’s (LBCH) HIV and AIDS awareness campaign for year 2012 by accepting the symbolic cushion and conducting awareness programs for their employees.  

The bright red cushion inscribed with the message ‘Pass on Awareness, not HIV’ which is passed among over 60 LBCH member corporates was passed on to DFCC CEO Nihal Fonseka at a event held on 28 May by LBCH coordinator Sharmini Mendis. This took place together with an awareness session conducted for nearly 40 executive level staff at DFCC by Sonali de Silva a Champion trainer at Standard Chartered Bank. DFCC has been involved in LBCH’s initiative since its inception in 2007.  
Speaking on the bank’s continuous support towards LBCH, Fonseka said, “This initiative is important to the Bank as it corresponds to our core responsibilities of caring for the employee as well as the community. The most important thing is to spread the message of awareness and the Bank remains committed towards this end.”   
At another event held on 6 June at Hatton National Bank, LBCH Chairman Kishu Gomes passed the red cushion to the bank’s Managing Director and CEO R Theagarajah in the presence of Mancius Paiva, Ruwini Thenabandu, Gaythri Ganeshan and LBCH Coordinator Sharmini Mendis. Employees at HNB have already been undergoing HIV/AIDS awareness programs conducted by SCB and now has in-house trainers on HIV/AIDS.         
“We are pleased to accept this ‘cushion’ and will make sure that awareness about HIV and AIDS is passed along amongst all our employees and also amongst our customers and the communities in which we operate in,” mentioned R. Theagarajah. “It should be noted that HNB has been commemorating the World AIDS Day for the last three years and distributed red ribbons and information leaflets amongst its staff and customers,” he added.

HNB launched a HIV/AIDS Champions program in 2010 where the Champions serve as the Bank’s ambassadors for HIV and AIDS. The Champions are trained to lead initiatives relating to creating awareness about HIV and AIDS.
The goal of LBCH is to leverage the business community to make a committed response to mitigate the threat of HIV and AIDS in the workplace and community. LBCH works with its members to ensure that each of the organisations has an HIV and AIDS Workplace Policy in place, and provides on-going customised awareness programs. Professional trainers conduct these programs at no cost to member organisations.
Statistics show that nine out of 10 people living with HIV and AIDS globally are in the work force, which if not addressed, will threaten workplace productivity. As the number of persons living with HIV reported in Sri Lanka is on the rise, with approximately two new HIV cases reported every week, there is a need to recognise the magnitude of the issue and make a concerted effort on spreading awareness to mitigate the threat.
The creative concept for LBCH’s new awareness campaign was devised by the leading advertising and PR agency Bates Strategic Alliance which supports LBCH in its publicity.