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12 July 2010
Trucking really drives the South African economy and so it is vital that all of those organisations involved in this sector redouble their efforts and drastically scale up comprehensive HIV and aids prevention, treatment care support and risk management. With this philosophy in mind, Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles (MBCV) has made a concerted effort to assist initiatives to support such preventative programmes.
The lifestyle of a truck driver can be very hard, with gruelling hours, long distances and prolonged loneliness. The trucking industry, faced with the challenges of rising fuel costs, safety and constant driver shortages, now faces an even deadlier threat from the impact of HIV and AIDS, which affects both single and married drivers – and, by extension, their families.
The once stable industry of some 70 000 drivers is now challenged by the impact that poor health and shortened life spans is having on its driving workforce. The effects of HIV and AIDS can be felt in the constant search to replace drivers lost through high absenteeism, disability or death. The result is trucks left standing, reducing the earning potential of the loads that they carry or, worse still, driving once thriving transport companies to closure and inevitable job loss.
The impact of driver health has an even darker side, with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS finding their way into the lives and families of the women with whom these men are involved. This means wives, girlfriends, sex workers and other clients. This places families and especially woman at risk, as men, sometimes the only bread winner lose their jobs or don’t survive.
MBCV sponsors ‘Trucking Wellness’, who in turn purchase Sprinter panel vans for adaptation into mobile clinics. Together with a body-builder, Trucking Wellness have fitted these units with 25-litre water tanks and inverters for easy connection to an electricity supply at their various places of operation.
Trucking Wellness, originally known as Trucking Against Aids, was established in 1999 to ensure universal access to quality STI & HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment care and support for truckers, their families and sex workers in the industry. Twenty roadside wellness centres have been established in all provinces along the national trucking routes in South Africa.
The roadside wellness centre consists of modified six-meter containers. One container is fully equipped with medication and staffed by a qualified nursing sister who provides healthcare and counselling to patients suffering from sexually transmitted diseases. The second container is equipped for use as an awareness education and training facility.
To date, a total of 388 840 patients have received education at wellness centres. 141 038 patients were treated at the wellness centres, of which 48 573 were specifically treated for STIs.
Most experts agree that a combination of in-house programmes and roadside clinics are the best way to reach drivers. Smaller truck operators still need to move on establishing in-house programmes to complement this work. Companies would do well to invest in basic health care and clinical testing. You cannot buy experience, and if the trucks stop, the economy stops.
Tertius Wessels of Trucking Against AIDS says that the fight has but begun. “The growth and continued successful operation of the network of centres has been encouraging as is the financial support received from various sponsors and key industry players.”
Wessels said they would have to find ways to balance the need for ensuring an industry that does not discriminate against those affected, but one that also ensures safety for all road users. The bottom line is that government cannot do it alone, especially in the trucking industry. The government depends on industry to move people and goods safely around the country, to self-regulate the industry and make recommendations to government for improvements.
The Trucking Wellness Programme’s success is hinged on its complete buy in and integration from industry stakeholders. It is this collaboration of private and public partnerships that solidifies its success, making it sustainable in the long term. The mere fact that the Trucking Wellness Management Board is made up of both unions and employers makes it a remarkable initiative. The programme effectively brings together parties from all sectors of society working together for the betterment of those in the road freight and logistics industry. These partners include government, business, trade unions and civil society (NBCRFI, Sida, Mercedes-Benz, SABCOHA, CareWorks, CMRA, Engen, UTi, Imperial Logistics, National and Provincial Departments of Health, N3TC, RFA, Shell, Satawu, Tawusa, MTWU, PTWU)
Mercedes-Benz South Africa has been a proud supporter of Trucking Wellness for many years. In 2009 this support was entrenched through a R3.5 million partnership which aims to significantly scale up the work of Trucking Wellness in targeted areas.
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