Aspen’s CSI strategy remains underpinned by the Group’s guiding principle ‘Healthcare. We care’. CSI initiatives are aligned to projects which support the enhancement of healthcare, particularly those initiatives aimed at the prevention and management of HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis. As a South African-based Group, Aspen’s primary commitment is towards CSI projects in South Africa.

CSI AT ASPEN’S SOUTH AFRICAN
OPERATIONS New HIV/AIDS projects

Aspen’s support of HIV/AIDS projects was extended during the year with the addition of the following initiatives:

Aspen introduced financial support of the Soweto Hospice and the Hope Cape Town Trust.

• The Soweto Hospice is a branch of the Houghton Hospice which provides comprehensive palliative care to the increasing number of terminally ill patients and their families in Johannesburg and Soweto. Primarily focusing on HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis, the Soweto branch is well established and has recently extended its services to Diepkloof. The Hospice also runs the Mapetla Day Care Creche where regular Tuberculosis testing and vaccinations for polio and measles are offered.
• The Hope Cape Town Trust is situated at the Ithemba Ward at Tygerberg Academic Health Complex. The Trust integrates all services for HIV-positive children in the ward, maximises resources for home-based care visits and ward programmes promote the effective use of ARV treatment.

Continuing HIV/AIDS projects

During the year Aspen continued its support of a number of organisations which are active in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Group has fostered long-standing relationships with these organisations through financial and other support. Aspen retained its commitment to the following selected HIV/AIDS-related causes:

• The South African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (“SABCOHA”) is a business representative on the South African National AIDS Council which aims to co-ordinate the private sector response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. SABCOHA plays a vital role in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS for 2007-2011. It has further extended its comprehensive programme to selected small, medium and micro enterprises, providing education, testing and ARV treatment. Aspen is an active member of SABCOHA and a Group representative has served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of SABCOHA since his appointment in October 2007.
• The SA HIV/AIDS Clinicians Society provides financial assistance to rural doctors and nurses to attend HIV/AIDS-related conferences. This association is made up of independent medical professionals who are dedicated to HIV/AIDS education and research.
• The Ikhwezi Lokusa Wellness Centre in East London is a non-profit organisation offering medical management, holistic healthcare and ARVs to HIV-positive individuals. Its ARV-outreach programme currently includes a total of 33 general practitioners practising mainly in the rural areas and in areas where there are no ARV therapy-accredited sites. The Centre’s reach is also extending further to other regions within the Eastern Cape province.
• The Khanya Family Centre operates primarily in Kathorus, Gauteng, providing psychological counselling, care and support for families experiencing life challenges including HIV/AIDS. In order to build capacity in the community, field instruction and internships are offered to social work and psychology students. Aspen provided financial support to this centre.
• The Missionvale Care Centre in Port Elizabeth serves the local community through providing care and counselling for abandoned, abused, neglected and orphaned children. The Centre has an HIV/AIDS clinic which can be accessed by the Missionvale community. This clinic provides HIV/AIDS support to affected patients and also conducts HIV/AIDS awareness programmes for the surrounding communities. Primary education is provided for Grades 0 – 7. Skills training is offered to unemployed adults and a soup kitchen feeds more than 500 families.
• Aspen contributed to the Ubuntu Education Fund which is dedicated to delivering quality education and promoting healthy communities. The fund is part of the Mpilo-Lwazi Health Initiative – a comprehensive HIV/AIDS programme targeting HIV/AIDS management in Ibhayi, Port Elizabeth. Its goals are to contribute towards preventing proliferation of HIV infection and onward transmission and also to offer treatment and support to families coping with HIV/AIDS. To date the Ubuntu Education Fund has reached 40 000 children, with 24 000 currently enrolled in its health programme.
• A donation was granted to the SA Medical and Education Foundation for HIV/AIDS sufferers. The Foundation is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to support the operational requirements of those community hospitals, which have been accredited as ARV treatment sites, but which lack the infrastructure and equipment to deliver services effectively. With the high incidence of HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis in the province, they work in close association with the Provincial Health Department in identifying high priority areas where there is insufficient infrastructure or medical equipment in place to deliver the services. Donations were used for the building of eight dispensing doctors’ rooms in the Bonteheuwel and Langa areas specifically for the distribution of ARVs.

Integrated Community Home Care

During the year Aspen further supported a number of palliative care centres, promoting the Government’s Integrated Community Home Care model which forms part of the National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS (2007-2011). These support projects included:

Extending assistance to vulnerable HIV/AIDS children

Aspen acknowledges a growing need to assist orphaned children who are suffering with the consequences of HIV/AIDS. The Group is committed to financially supporting programmes providing early learning opportunities to affected children and increasing access to medical support available to them. To this end, selected non-profit organisations received increased financial support from Aspen during the year.

These organisations include: