HIV/AIDS project reaches out to vulnerable truck drivers

An HIV/AIDS project by a brewery company is reaching out to truck drivers - a vulnerable section - referring 859 of them to testing centres and hospitals.

New Delhi: An HIV/AIDS project by a brewery company is reaching out to tens of hundreds of truck drivers - a vulnerable section - referring 859 of them to testing centres and hospitals.

`Humsafar`, as the project by the brewery SABMiller is called, has reached out to 12,832 drivers in states like Rajasthan, Puducherry and Karnataka. Meenakshi Sharma of SABMiller said in a statement: "The project helps truckers learn about HIV/AIDS through interpersonal communication and helps to address the issue by enduring prevention through knowledge and information dissemination." The project has also distributed 25,069 condoms among the truckers through social marketing. Lakshmi Narayana, a truck driver in Bangalore, said: "I visited SABMiller in December and participated in the programme on health. It was very useful as it involved plays, exhibitions and games." Interventions are also carried out in food joints where truck drivers frequently halt along the highway. "Since literacy rates amongst truckers are low, mass media tools such as movies, videos, games are widely used to effectively take the message to truckers," Sharma`s statement said. IANS