HIV/AIDS disclosures by oil and gas companies

Abstract

This paper is an empirical study of the extent of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Disclosures (HIV/AIDSD) by oil and gas companies of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IAOGP) and the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA). The anti‐HIV/AIDS activities of 29 IAOGP/IPIECA companies as reported in their year‐ending 2005 annual reports are analysed using an HIV/AIDSD index that is adapted from an International Labour Organisation HIV/AIDS workplace protocol checklist for an oil and gas industry context. The descriptive statistics analysis reveals a very low level of overall HIV/AIDSD practices (12.6%) with the majority of the oil and gas companies making no HIV/AIDSD (17 out of 29 entities). This finding indicates that anti‐HIV/AIDSD are not regarded as a primary consideration in the information context of some of the prominent OGP/IPIECA companies’ annual reports, a piquant result given IAOGP/IPIECA's commitment to anti‐HIV/AIDS programs. Further analysis reveals that Care & Support is the most disclosed broad HIV/AIDSD category in the annual reports while Testing, arguably a crucially important issue, is the least disclosed. The simple regression model reveals that a company's breadth of location is a statistically significant predictor of HIV/AIDSD, an important finding for health bodies wishing to enjoin large companies in anti‐HIV/AIDS campaigns.