Access Bank in partnership with the Friends Africa of the Global Fund Africa (Friends Africa) is scaling up the prevention and treatment of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria through the Workplace Policy Workshops for 2000 Small and Medium Enterprises, (SMEs) in 4 African countries namely Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda and Zambia. The workshop will kick-off in Lusaka, sail through Kigali and then, Lagos, before its ship finally berths at Accra in November.The initiative is focused on giving SMEs the right tools needed to establish and implement workplace policy for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria. This will increase the knowledge of these key issues of global concern, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, in the workplace; increase accessibility to treatment and prevention programme across Africa and decrease stigmatization.The programme will be implemented through a workshop approach, with sessions holding in Accra, Kigali, Lagos and Lusaka while there will be a webinar (online education) conducted for interested SMEs in various locations.This collaboration between Access Bank and Friends Africa is yet another demonstration of African institutions commitment to solving the continent’s problems. The Ghana event holds on the 22nd of November, 2011 in Accra with over 150 SMEs billed to participate.HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria are no longer viewed as only health problems but as part of a broader development crisis. These three pandemics disproportionately affect Africans more than any other continent in the world.Records have it that in 2007 alone, there were 1.6 million HIV/AIDS deaths. It is also on record that about half a million Tuberculosis deaths occur annually and 90% of global malaria deaths occur in Africa. These three diseases have been identified as the leading cause of death in Africa, and consequently have always had a negative impact on the economic progress of the continent.Considering the impacts of this triple pandemic on the African continent, the Access Bank sponsored SME Workplace policy programme implemented by Friends Africa is a laudable initiative which has again affirmed Access Bank’s position as Africa’s sustainability champion.In its second phase, the Access Bank SME Workplace Policy workshop - trained 250 companies in three Nigerian states (Lagos, Minna and Enugu) in 2009. This year’s programme will train an increased number of SMEs, over 2000, and equip employees with awareness about the diseases.