Level of awareness about HIV/AIDS among truck drivers and their attitude towards persons with AIDS

ABSTRACT

HIV thrives on mobile population. Truck drivers particularly long distance truck drivers are more vulnerable to the AIDS virus, because they travel a lot, cut off from mainstream society, often in order to reduce their loneliness, engage in activities such as having unsafe sex with commercial sex workers and with fellow crew members. In this study seventy-five truck drivers were interviewed on nonrandom basis, using the convenient sampling technique, at the Badami Bagh Truck Stand, Lahore. A questionnaire was designed as a tool for data collection to assess the level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS and their attitude towards persons with AIDS. It was found that 50% of the truckers did not know whether needles had any role in the spread of AIDS and another 30-40% thought that needles had nothing to do with the transmission of AIDS. Forty to fifty percent of the respondents had the misconception that AIDS can be contracted by casual contact and being in the same room with a person with AIDS. Two thirds of the truck drivers did think that monogamy and condom use is an effective method for AIDS prevention. An association between low knowledge of AIDS and high negative attitude towards persons with AIDS was found to exist, which was statistically significant. The study gives some direction for prospective studies assessing the knowledge and attitudes of the truck drivers or other populations with similar demographic characteristics