HIV/AIDS Epidemic Strategic Simulation
The global HIV/AIDS epidemic is at the intersection of public health, political policy, and corporate interests, confronting all of humanity with the greatest challenge of our age. In October 2003, Booz Allen focused firmwide expertise on this most complex issue, hosting a groundbreaking HIV/AIDS strategic simulation in India.
Working with the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS and the Confederation of Indian Industry, Booz Allen brought together a diverse mix of more than 200 government, business, and nonprofit leaders to the three day simulation event—a risk-free environment in which participants could test possible courses of action and see the potential economic, social, and political impacts of each. Conducted in New Delhi, the event was an unprecedented gathering of public and private leaders to explore how to address the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in India through multisector partnerships.
The premise of the simulation was the need for public–private collaboration. Governments cannot and should not handle the burden of this epidemic alone. The scope of the challenge requires the resources and expertise of the business community and the nonprofit sector as well.
The setting of the simulation underscored the urgency of the situation. India now accounts for about 4 million HIV/AIDS cases, and the number could grow as much as 10-fold by 2025. With that kind of growth, India’s HIV/AIDS population in 2025 would dwarf the current global burden. The growing crisis has the potential to reverse India’s significant recent economic growth and disrupt political stability—an issue of equal concern to business and government stakeholders. The simulation showed that India still has an opportunity to act and alter the course of the epidemic.
Participants included national governments grappling with the implications of this growing pandemic, businesses attuned to the economic consequences, donors responsible for funding choices, and civil society leaders fighting every day to stop further spread of the disease and support those living with it.
“Booz Allen brought an approach to the issue of HIV/AIDS that has rarely been used,” says Trevor Neilson, the executive director of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS. “The simulation gave policy leaders a new way of collaborating that allowed them to understand the impact of their decision making, so that those leaders were able to see they had an opportunity, and that decisive action on their part could lead to millions of lives saved.”
Participants were divided into nine teams representing industry, government, and civil society stakeholders, with a mix of sector representatives assigned to each team. The simulated epidemic evolved as a result of actions taken by the teams. Ten years’ time was simulated over a series of three moves, forcing participants to address real-world dilemmas and choices, and to manage the short- and long-term consequences of their actions.
Over the course of the simulation, teams experienced firsthand the consequences of relying on broad prevention and education programs as the disease spread rapidly to the middle class. They grappled with the challenges of funding constraints, as they rushed to develop programs. The cumulative effects of all their actions were calculated in real time at the end of each “move,” enabling participants to see the impact of different courses of action, for instance, the number of infections and deaths avoided through disease prevention and treatment programs and the impact of the disease on overall gross domestic product and the output of different market sectors.
“People came on Friday night and stayed the entire weekend because they felt compelled to be there,” says Susan Penfield, a vice president in Booz Allen’s McLean, Virginia, office. “Some came from far away, and there was a large local Indian contingent as well. They were passionate about this cause, about figuring out ways to do things differently, for India. They want to change, want to own the challenges. Experiencing it, I myself felt changed coming back,” she says.
Susan Penfield
“The simulation exercise was so creative that it has motivated the 200 participants, from across the world, but especially from India, to make a new level of commitment to the HIV/AIDS issue,” says Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons and chairman of the Indian Business Trust for HIV/AIDS. “I believe there is a crucial need for an explosion of new initiatives and new partnerships in India, which will make an enormous difference in addressing this issue in the future.”
New Partnerships
One such initiative that is already under way is Tata Steel’s expansion of its well-established workplace and community activities to encourage effective HIV/AIDS prevention through mass awareness and education. In Jamshedpur, India, the company has 21 community clinics serving 140,000 people that can be scaled up to accommodate testing and treatment services for the community.
“The simulation led to new partnerships between government and business, and new corporate HIV/AIDS programs being announced by Indian businesses,” says Neilson. “Booz Allen had a catalytic effect on India on this issue at a time when India really needed it. We’re planning next to do it in China, and we’d like to do it in as many places as possible.”
story posted July 2005
