Another truck wellness centre set up

It has been estimated that 56% of South Africa’s truck drivers are HIV positive, and this alarming statistic has seen fuel company Caltex launch an initiative designed to help put the brakes on HIV/Aids in the trucking industry. In SA, the road freight industry employs 70 000 people, of which truck drivers constitute roughly 35 000. It forms a vital part of the economy, responsible for transporting 80% of goods, and, although HIV/ Aids prevalence studies vary, the impact of the disease on the industry’s mobile workforce is indisputable. That is why Chevron, the Caltex parent company, teamed up with the Dutch non-government organisation (NGO) North Star Alliance in an attempt to curb the spread of the disease in truck drivers on SA’s North-South Corridor, one of the busiest transportation routes in Africa. North Star Alliance is an international nonprofit organisation based in Utrecht, with a regional office for Africa based in Durban, and a sub-regional office for East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. The Caltex initiative is a Roadside Wellness Centre located at the Caltex Truck Stop in Cato Ridge – and the centre also provides muchneeded primary healthcare to the immediate community. According to Paul Matthew, director (Africa) for North Star, it is to establish a network of these “Wellness Centres”, providing front-line prevention and treatment services to transporters, sex workers and women at risk, and mobile communities.