The Road Freight Association will contribute R3 million towards the fight against Aids. The money will be used to implement HIV policies and programmes in the long distance trucking industry.
The Road Freight Association (RFA), in conjunction with the department of health, will inject R3 million into the fight against Aids in the long distance trucking industry.
The grant, a significant contribution by the Department’s HIV/Aids and STD (sexually transmitted diseases) programme, will be used by the Learning Clinic to implement policies and programmes relating to HIV.
According to the RFA, the trucking industry is one of the hardest hit by the killer disease, and “consistent and complementary prevention strategies will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the HIV prevention programmes” currently running in the sector.
“An estimated 4,7 million South Africans are living with HIV, and the support of government and community leaders is critical to the implementation of an effective HIV/Aids campaign,” said RFA chief executive Herman Lemmer. “The department of health has identified the trucking sector as a high transmission area for Aids.
“But the RFA is not equipped to handle a project of this magnitude on its own,” he continues. “For this reason, the department of health invited interested parties to submit tenders to partner the RFA in this regard.”
The Learning Clinic, already involved with the RFA and the National Bargaining Council in the operation of roadside STI clinics on major trucking routes in South Africa, was awarded the tender.
“Since April 1999, the Learning Clinic has been actively involved in educating truck drivers and commercial sex workers on the dangers of unsafe sex with specific regard to the transmission of HIV/Aids and other STDs,” explains Paul Matthew, managing director of the Learning Clinic.
“The awarding of this tender will be an extension of what we’ve been doing for the past two-and-a-half years and our current roadside clinic infrastructure will help expand on the objectives of the project.”
The roadside clinics, based in Harrismith, Beaufort West and Messina, have been supplying medical treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and primary healthcare for colds and flu, and distributing condoms and HIV/Aids awareness pamphlets and other promotional material. Peer educators at these clinics have also been responsible for counselling truck drivers and commercial sex workers on Aids and other STDs.
The project’s main objectives include gaining the support of at least half of the trucking industry in the fight against Aids. “The first thing we have to do is ensure that at least 50 per cent of companies in the industry adopt and implement HIV/Aids policies and programmes,” says Matthew.
“This includes the distribution of condoms and promotional material, and the advocating of awareness campaigns on World Aids Day and during Condom and STD Week. If we can get the industry proponents involved it will make our job that much easier,” he said.
The project will also need to be taken to a wider market through active marketing, to encourage truck drivers to become peer educators, provide further information, education and condoms to commercial sex workers, provide minor ailment treatment to truck drivers outside of normal clinic hours, as well as take into account the families of HIV positive drivers, Matthew added.
