AIDS awareness programme targets Swazi truckers

James Hall
SWAZILAND'S MINISTRY of Transportation, citing a study by the United Nation's agency UNDP that found long-haul truck drivers a "key" source responsible for the spread of HIV infections, has announced a programme of AIDS awareness targeted at truckers.
The UNDP report concentrates on truckers travelling to and from foreign destinations. The report does not say how many truckers are thought to be HIV positive, or the percentage of new HIV infections attributable to truckers, and conclusions appear to have been drawn from anecdotal evidence.
But a sampling of opinion from managers of Swaziland's freight haulage companies and some long haul truckers finds agreement with the study.
Truckers will be invited to workshops where AIDS-prevention measures are taught. The programme also calls for the establishment of an AIDS information centre targeted at truck drivers, either at the Matsapha Industrial Estate or at one of the border posts, most likely Oshoek.
The programme has been endorsed by the Federation of Swaziland Employers and government's Swaziland National AIDS Project.
The UN estimates that a third of all Swazis are HIV positive, prompting a decline in life expectancy from 46 years for males in 1990 to 38 today, although the health ministry puts the infection rate lower, at 22,5% of the population. About 10 000 children annually are expected to be orphaned when both parents die of AIDS, a daunting figure representing a social challenge for a nation of less than one million people.