Kavach

About 5-6 million truckers (drivers and helpers) in India ply on long distance, or inter-city, routes. Several studies have shown that long distance truckers are more vulnerable, compared to short distance truckers, to sexually transmitted diseases in general, and HIV/AIDS in particular, due to their high risk behaviour during long absence from their native places/home. Truckers as a group have higher rates of HIV and STI (11 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively, according to one survey in south India) than the average male client. Their mobility contributes to the geographic spread of HIV in India. HIV prevention programmes focused on truckers have been in place for the last decade or so. However, the mobile nature of the population and the highly fragmented structure of the Indian transport industry make it impossible for any single, standalone intervention to establish a sustained relationship/dialogue with the population, no matter how creative the behaviour change messaging at a single location may be.