ITF-funded research underlines occupational links with high risk

According to the World Health Organisation more than 20 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are living with HIV or AIDS. This accounts for nearly two-thirds of the total number of people infected by the virus globally and the figures are still rising.

Although studies of the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa have identified transport workers, and in particular, long-distance truck drivers, as a “high risk” occupational group, little research has been conducted to explore the underlying causes of their vulnerability or to design specific interventions for controlling the transmission of the virus amongst them.

In response to urgent pleas from union affiliates in the region, the ITF last year undertook a three-month research project based in Uganda – where AIDS is believed to be the leading cause of death among working adults – in order to produce a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship of HIV to transport workers.

In particular, the project sought to combine new information collected through field work with existing research, to provide the foundations on which to pilot a 12-month action programme. This programme would aim to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS and focus on its social and economic effects on road transport workers and their families, covering issues such as individual rights, discrimination and workplace behaviour.

Working at main border points and stopovers along the Trans African Highway – a key transport artery which cuts across Uganda and links Mombasa in Kenya in the east with Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the west – the research team used in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires to gather their data.

As well as talking to the drivers themselves, the research team also spent time with the communities they closely interact with, transport workers and their representatives from ITF-affiliated unions – the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union (ATGWU) and the Uganda Railways Workers’ Union (URWU) – and local organisations concerned with the spread of HIV and AIDS.

The picture that emerged >>