Till before some 50years, nobody had the slightest clue of what AIDS was.

But suddenly it started spreading like forest fire. People usually have various facts and figures to offer when it comes to the origin of AIDS but the blind truth is that nobody knows where it originated from or how it happened to come to India. STiome say it originated in Africa and some say it came from monkeys. Truck drivers are known to be one of the most potent carriers of the HIV virus due to numerous reasons. A survey in 2006 proved that 40% truck drivers were susceptible to have AIDS. After a person contracts a disease, it is his responsibility to know the cause and consequences of the disease. How many of the truckers know the basic difference between AIDS and HIV. Shocking but its just two percent of them as per the study conducted by Centre for Media Studies (CMS). An HIV infected person is said to be carrying the Human Immune Deficiency Virus in his body which remains in his body throughout his life. When a HIV positive persons T-lymphocyte count falls to 200 or less he starts developing AIDS. Thus, every person with AIDS is infected with HIV but all persons with HIV infection do not have AIDS. Now, some of the facts collected by CMS are that 95 percent of the truckers with AIDS were in the age group of 18 to 45 years and 80 percent were married and around 75 percent were in the profession for more than five to six years. This shows that more than illiteracy, ignorance and being away from home for long durations were the main reasons behind the spread of the disease among the truckers community. Certain steps that we can take to curb this disease and bring a change unto the lives of the truckers are: 1. The truckers are extremely mobile and hence very susceptible to HIV. They have a very stressful and dull life away from home and hence the habit of seeking sex from elsewhere to fulfill their desires creeps in. Education combined with entertainment should make them understand. 2. Information can be conveyed through radio about the mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS and other STDs as radio is one of the companions most of these drivers have throughout the journey. 3. It should be ensured that there is free availability of condoms through condom vending machines at various petrol pumps/ gas stations and dhabas. 4. Health check ups should be made mandatory by the truck company owners every month for free. 5. HIV education among sex workers hired by truckers should also help. They still are part of this chain. 6. NGOs can play a big role by organizing awareness campaigns. Certain NGOs like Udayan Care in Delhi conduct outreach workshops for bringing betterment in the lives of HIV positive parents and their children through monthly scholarship to the children for their educational expenses and various other activities. Why not something similar for truck drivers?

As part of the third phase of the National AIDS control programme (2007-2013) 60 truckers interventions have been set up at major trans-shipment locations tasked with providing behavioural change education, condom and STI services to truckers. So far these interventions reach about 1.4 million out of an estimated 3 million truck drivers. We have too many conceptions and misconceptions in our society when it comes to AIDS. Hence awareness is very important especially for the mass of people who are uneducated and ignorant and do not even realize of the consequences after being infected. The need of the hour is to deal with them and to take their help in curbing this disease.