A motorcade of more than 20 vehicles took to the highways of
Beijing, Hebei and Shandong provinces at the weekend in an attempt
to spread the word about safe sex and HIV/AIDS prevention among
long-distance lorry drivers.
Organized by the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation,
volunteers distributed information leaflets, condoms and syringes
at highway service zones and toll stations along the route.
Long-distance truck drivers are generally men in their prime who
are sexually active while away from their spouses for extended
periods, Hua Ke, the foundation's director, said.
"They are highly mobile and often use prostitutes and take
drugs, which puts them at risk of contracting the deadly disease,"
he said.
"Worse still, due to poor education and limited access to
information, these men know little about HIV/AIDS, let alone how to
prevent it," Hua told China Daily.
"That's the reason we targeted them with this project."
Tang Wei, a vice-director of the project, said very few toilets
along the highways had posters warning of the risks of HIV, and
condoms were often unavailable at service areas.
"Starting from next week, all the toilets our motorcade visited
will have posters reminding truck drivers of the dangers of HIV and
how they can protect themselves from the disease," Tang said.
But the project won't stop there. Over the next five years it
will be extended to include key highways across the country, he
said.
Lorry drivers have been identified as being highly vulnerable to
the disease, along with commercial sex workers, homosexual men and
intravenous drug users, Hua said.
The Ministry of Health estimates there are 650,000 people with
HIV/AIDS, although just 200,000 are registered.
(China Daily September 25, 2007)