Kaelo began as a business with a specific focus on HIV/AIDS motivated by the desire to make a positive impact on the devastation this epidemic was causing to so many South African families and the economy.
The period around 2004 was a time when the Mbeki ANC government denied that HIV caused AIDS and when no insurance company or medical scheme covered HIV/AIDS.
South Africa, being the worst affected country in the world in terms of number of HIV positive people, had even greater challenges with a high prevalence of other chronic conditions. Infection and incidence rates peaked in the early 2000’s and deaths peaked between 2005 and 2008. This earned South Africa the mantra of having the highest disease burden of any nation (measured in per capita “quality life years lost”); a fact still applicable to this day.
Recognising the lack of government and private sector action, Kaelo sought a solution to the HIV crisis by approaching employers. Kaelo demonstrated that investing in HIV interventions for employees would reduce absenteeism and boost productivity, which outweighed the cost of the intervention. With the US recent withdrawal of all support for HIV/AIDS and related conditions these services remain of great importance in the South African context.
This philosophy, of finding win-wins that allow for sustainable investment in employee health, has underpinned everything that Kaelo is today.
Over the years, the Kaelo family has taken these early ideas and made them into something exceptional. It is a privilege to work with such inspirational colleagues who share such commitment to improving the lives of South Africans.
Kaelo has built a track record of tangible outcomes through early diagnosis, long term treatment and support in a holistic patient-centred fashion. The importance of psychological support in effective treatment was, and remains, a cornerstone of these programmes. In one multi-year case study a reduction in deaths of 75% was achieved over a period of seven years. These essential interventions allow families to stay intact while children finish school and keep skilled employees in organisations while reducing incapacity, death and disability. Importantly, all parties benefit from these interventions, the employer, through greater productivity, lower absenteeism and many other well documented metrics, and the employees and their dependants.
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