Truck stops aid in HIV prevention

TRUCK OPERATORS could be among the hardest hit by the Aids pandemic says Prof Alan Whiteside.
Writing on Aids in the transport sector in the April/May edition of Aids Analysis Africa, Whiteside says in Southern Africa transport operatives travel from Durban as far as the mines of Northern Zambia, spending weeks on the road and often having to wait days to go through border formalities.
Road service operators are particularly at risk.
A survey of 168 truck and bus drivers in Cameroon in 1993 found that they spent, on average, 14 days away from home on each trip. Some 62% had sex during the trip and 25% had sex every night they were away.
In Tanzania, on the Dar-es-Salaam highway, HIV prevalence was 28% for truckers and 56% for their female partners in 1991.
The effects on truck operators as full-blown Aids starts affecting their drivers will
be reduced productivity, increased training costs, greater absenteeism and higher medical costs, as well as death benefits. Pension schemes will also come under pressure.
Whiteside believes that employers will be able to reduce the risks to their drivers and their own businesses.
As people in the sector form a small and relatively easily identifiable group the problem can be addressed. Designing awareness campaigns for the sector has been done with some success by Amref in Tanzania, where both truckers and the women serving them at truck stops have been targeted.
There is plenty of educational material available from governmental and non-governmental organisations, says Whiteside. What companies need is the will to introduce programmes, including making condoms continuously and easily available to employees.
However, he adds, addressing HIV is more than providing Aids education and condoms - it is about how companies structure work routines, pay and conditions.
For example, where trucking companies have established rest stops, the benefits include security and meal and rest facilities for drivers, who are also less likely to have risky sexual intercourse. Although the stops were established primarily for improved security, gains in HIV prevention have been considerable.
Transport companies should not forget management when tackling Aids, adds Whiteside.
Transport managers are in scarce supply, expensive to train and take time to replace. Evidence suggests that in Africa the levels of HIV among managers and professionals are as high or higher than in the general population.
Therefore management needs to identify key personnel and put in place contingency plans for increased illness and death. Moreover, continuous HIV education and training are vital for this group, says Whiteside.