Riding the Highway to hell

Many city truckers are still ignorant about HIV, Aids, and its devastating consequences

“What if I have a little bit of Aids, will I be cured?” Enquired 16-year-old Harish More. Harish has been working as an assistant to a truck driver for the last four years. He is part of the group of truckers that work the long-distance routes between Delhi and Mumbai, and whose pit stops comprise the various highway dhabas. Truckers are one of the worst-affected segments in the country, with HIV/Aids wreaking havoc in their ranks. 

In 2007, following the first HIV survey among the general population, UNAIDS and NACO stated that between two million and 3.6 million people were living with the virus in the country. In 2008, the figure was fixed at 2.4 million.

According to various health reports, the reason truck drivers are so susceptible to the disease is that they often have sex with sex workers along their routes, and do so without using condoms. Infected truck drivers then have sex with their wives, which leads to the disease spreading through their families. A World Bank report estimates that roughly one in every 10 of India’s 2.5-3 million long-haul truckers is HIV positive.

Sanjay Jadhav, a truck driver from Benaras, in UP, has been in the business for the last three years, and has a fair amount of knowledge on HIV/Aids. He says, “I know how the disease spreads. A friend of mine was infected with HIV. I also am aware that you can prevent it by using condoms.”

But many other truck drivers that DNA spoke to along the Mira Road highway have little to no knowledge about the disease and how it spreads. Shaikh Javed, who has been trucking for the last eight years says that even though he has seen a number of condom vending machines in the dhabas that line the country’s highways, he has never ever used them. “Many people do not know how to use these machines, and many others are too shy to do so,” says Javed.

Benarasi Das has spent over four decades traversing the country in a truck, and believes that when one spends an extended period of time away from home, female companionship becomes a necessity of sorts. But Das is aware of the dangers of these sexual interludes: “I have seen two of my friends die of Aids after being infected with the virus due to frequenting sex workers, and having unprotected sex.” He adds that most truckers are hesitant to talk about the disease, and are not open about their sexual encounters. He admits that many of his colleagues do not know how to use the condom vending machines and “as they do not want others to know about their ignorance, they refrain from using these machines”.

But younger truck drivers seem to be learning from the mistakes made by their elders, and strongly advocate the use of contraceptives. Naresh Jadhav, a 22-year-old trucker admits to frequenting brothels along his routes: “I have been to Kamathipura and other such places, but I always make sure I use a condom. I also tell friends to use condoms.
But no one really pays attention to it. “

The knowledge that truckers do have about the disease is due to the tireless work done by various NGOs in educating them. “On occasions there are a few educated people who come to the dhabas and talk to us about HIV,” says Jadhav.

According to the NGOs, a considerable amount of work is being done to spread awareness among truckers. AVERT Society is one such NGO that is working towards promoting awareness. They currently have a couple of projects — in collaboration with companies like Apollo Tyres and Bharat Petroleum — that work with truck drivers. “About a year ago we had many more projects, now many of them have been transferred to MSACS (Maharashtra State Aids control Society),” says Dr Raj Lokhande, programme officer, workplace intervention. AVERT Society.  

The Mumbai District Aids Control Society, started an Aids campaign two months ago focusing on truck drivers. SS Kudarkar, project director, says, “In 2005, the project was targeted at the city’s migrant population, which included auto-rickshaw, taxi and truck drivers in the city. Now we are focusing only on the trucker population, which amounts to around 10,000 to 15,000.”

Bharat Petroleum has also been carrying out an Aids awareness campaign for 2,000 truckers. Vivian Vaz, deputy manager, Social Welfare, says, “Though the awareness levels with most of the interstate truckers is much higher than local ones, we need to constantly repeat the message to truckers, to keep the information fresh in their minds.

Most of the information they get from internal contacts is incorrect, so we have to continuously tell them about Aids, its causes, and about safe sex.”