AIDS initiative targets regional truckers

MBABANE – Regional
hauliers driving through
Swaziland are being targeted
by an AIDS-awareness
initiative launched last week
by UNAIDS and the Ministry
of Transportation.
“Most truck drivers are
not of local origin. They
come from South Africa
and many are nationals
from other countries who
work for South African and
Mozambican firms making
deliveries in Swaziland. They
impact the AIDS situation
here and when they return
home. We cannot work with
Swazi drivers only to the
exclusion of other nationals,”
Simon Mahlalela, a project
officer with the Ministry of
Health told FTW.
“Workers in the transport
industry, including longdistance
truck drivers and
railway employees as well
as air workers, are at a high
risk of contracting HIV
because of their mobility
and time spent way from
their families,” Transport
minister Elijah Shongwe
told FTW at the launch of
the Public Transport Sector
HIV and AIDS Programme at
Mbabane.
Shongwe said studies
commissioned by his
ministry and UNAIDS found
that while away from home,
62% of long-distance truck
drivers had sex during their
trips. 25% of drivers had sex
every night they were away
from home.
Given Swaziland’s AIDS
climate – the country has
the highest HIV prevalence
rate in the world – chances
are the drivers will contract
the virus in the landlocked
kingdom that depends on
ground transport for all its
imports and exports.
“This affects the transport
industry in a variety of ways
as it strikes hardest at the
most productive segment
of the labour force and
reduces profits by imposing
huge costs on enterprises,
causes declining productivity,
increases labour costs and
leads to the loss of skills and
experience. HIV and AIDS
can destroy the capacity of
the individual and countries
to work and create work,”
said Shongwe.
The truckers’ AIDS
project will provide free
AIDS testing and counselling
at border posts and key
sites like Mbabane and the
Matsapha Industrial Estate,
and disseminate AIDS
information to truckers.