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Forum News 11.4: Transport Sector Joins Fight Against HIV/AIDS

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Across East and Southern Africa the impact of HIV/AIDS is evident in every sector, including transportation. As such the need for a multi- sectoral approach to mitigate the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS is universally acknowledged.  The transport sector has recognised its role as a catalyst for the spread of HIV/AIDS and identifies two key areas of concern;
 
●areas of transport activity such as transport corridors, stopping places and terminal points that demonstrate increased levels of promiscuous sexual contact, and
 
●the bringing together of workers in temporary camps for infrastructure construction and maintenance activities, an environment where the absence of normal social networks to regulate behaviour encourages sexual activity between non-regular partners.
 

Yet communities living along and around areas of intense transport activity also represent a legitimate focus for transport sector strategies to mitigate the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS. On this premise the IFRTD affiliated national forum groups (NFGs) of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, led by the South Africa NFG (hosted by CSIR Transportek, Pretoria), have initiated new research.Their programme investigates the types of community based responses and institutions that have emerged along transport corridors, at hubs, and at locations of infrastructure construction or maintenance, as a response to the HIV/AIDS crisis. It seeks to identify the scope for the transport sector to work in partnership with these communities to mitigate impact. 

Format: Bulletin
Date: April 2004
Download: Acrobat pdf 180 kb