16th International AIDS Conference


Toronto, Canada - August 13 - 18, 2006

THE IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS PROGRAMMING FOR TRUCKDRIVERS IN CAMEROON FROM 1997 TO 2004

Int Conf AIDS. 2006 Aug 13-18;16 Abstract No. MoAc0303

Onana Ekembene J.-A.1, Dillow A.2, Cissé B.3, Beauchamp M.C.4
1CARE International in Cameroon, Program, Yaounde, Cameroon, 2CARE Cameroon, Program, Yaounde, Cameroon, 3CARE Mali, Program, Bamako, Mali, 4CARE Canada, HIV/AIDS specialist, Ottawa, Canada

ISSUES: Cameroon, located in central Africa, is a country of intense migratory movement, mostly of truckdrivers, commercial sex workers. Despite HIV prevention programs targeting mobile populations over the past decade, the HIV prevalence among truckdrivers remains high, 16% in 2004, while HIV prevalence in the general population that same year was 5.5% (truckdriver study conducted by Centre de Recherches et d’Etudes en Economie et Sondages, general population figures from DHS 2004).

DESCRIPTION: Since 1997, CARE Cameroon has implemented two HIV/AIDS and STI prevention projects targeting truckdrivers and their sexual partners. Both projects applied the following strategies:

  1. Peer education to encourage reduced-risk sexual practices including STI treatment
  2. Syndromic management of STIs by health centers along key routes
  3. Condom promotion at truckstops

LESSONS LEARNED: Despite the challenges these projects faced, like a highly mobile and difficult-to-track target population, frequent medicine stockouts for STI treatment, and insecurity in project zones, CARE is able to show impressive results. Evaluations have shown that 49,148 persons (17,200 were truckdrivers) participated in group and individual education from 1997 to 2004. Evaluation results for activities in the east of the country show behavior change between 1997 and 2000; during this period the percentage of truckdrivers who had at least two occasional sexual partners dropped from 39.5% to 26.3% and that percentage faithful to one partner increased from 33.5% to 57.3%.

RECOMMENDATIONS: CARE’s experience working for STI and HIV prevention among mobile populations was applied recently when CARE designed a scale-up project intended to target truckdrivers and roadside communities across the country. In addition to the aforementioned strategies, this new project, to be implemented from 2005-2009 with CIDA and CARE funding, will focus on community mobilization and VCT promotion. It will work in line with updated national AIDS policies and will support recent improvements in VCT and ART availabilty.

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2006-08-13
MoAc0303

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