Title: Driving HIV away: helping taxi drivers protect themselves and others.

POPLINE Document Number: 289753

Author(s):

Taravella S

Source citation:

Arlington, Virginia, Family Health International [FHI], Institute for HIV / AIDS, 2005. 4 p. (Snapshots from the Field|USAID Cooperative Agreement No. HRN-A-00-97-00017-00|USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse DocID / Order No. PN-ADD-063)

Abstract:

Semere is a handsome, 24-year-old Ethiopian. He has a girlfriend but occasionally has sex with other women. He says he mostly uses condoms, but does not want to be seen buying them. He has chosen not to learn his HIV status. He is also a taxi driver in Addis Ababa, which makes him a prime audience for a new program introduced by the Implementing AIDS Prevention and Care Project (IMPACT), which is managed by Family Health International (FHI). Working with local partner Save Your Generation- Ethiopia (SYGA) and the Addis Ababa HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office, IMPACT aims to bring messages of HIV prevention and behavior change to the 28,000 men who work as taxi drivers , taxi assistants or taxi inspectors in the city. Their blue-and-white mini-buses, a familiar site on the streets of Addis Ababa, are a major form of transportation in this city of about five million. Most taxi drivers are young, unmarried men who have received little education and little information about HIV. They are further vulnerable to infection because they travel throughout the city during their work, encounter many different people, receive money—and sometimes find themselves pursued by women who hope the drivers will spend money on them. The primary goal of the program, which is funded by the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is to educate drivers about HIV so they can better protect themselves and their families. “There must be a behavior change in this community. People are dying,” says Mekte Game, a taxi inspector. The behavior change is approached through peer education, augmented by drama presentations at taxi stations where drivers gather and by condom distribution. The condoms are provided by DKT-Ethiopia, the Addis Ababa Health Bureau and local HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Desks. (excerpt)

Keywords:

Ethiopia
Progress Report
Evaluation
HIV Positive Persons
Urban Population
Workers
HIV Prevention
HIV Testing
Sex Education
Counseling
Occupational Health
Developing Countries
Africa, Eastern
Africa, Sub Saharan
Africa
Persons Living With HIV/AIDS
HIV Infections
Viral Diseases
Diseases
Population Characteristics
Demographic Factors
Population
Labor Force
Human Resources
Economic Factors
Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses
Examinations and Diagnoses
Education
Clinic Activities
Program Activities
Programs
Organization and Administration
Health