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HIV/AIDS drop-in centre opens on India-Nepal border

22 Outubro 2009

A brand new drop-in centre has been launched on the India-Nepal border, providing truck drivers with essential HIV/AIDS services.

The centre, the only health provider in the area, is part of the cross border initiative of the ITF's South Asian HIV project. It is designed to reach out to those working on the 2000 trucks that cross the border every day.

Truck drivers and their assistants will have access to essential counselling services and information on sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS. Workers at the centre will distribute condoms and refer people who require blood tests or other medical services to a nearby clinic run by the Family Planning Association of Nepal. Meanwhile the ITF-affiliated union and project partner, the Independent Transport Workers’ Association of Nepal, is backing up the centre’s services by providing an information telephone hotline and raising awareness of HIV through outreach work. A women’s health programme will also be initiated in the coming months.

The centre’s services are also open to the local community.

“The pandemic is growing very fast in south Asia, a region with porous borders and high rates of migration. This means infection can travel very quickly from one country to another. That’s why it is important to keep challenging stigma and discrimination by ensuring the right information is made available to those who are at the highest risk,” said Dr Asif Altaf, ITF HIV/AIDS coordinator.

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