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AIDS hitchhikes on highway trucks
Citizen's News estimates that daily 4.8 lakh truckers are at high risk of not only acquiring the virus but also spreading it to the passive population, hitherto considered "safer from AIDS".
Hundreds of encampments serving liquor, food, vehicle spares and women to truckers on the highways are also becoming pick-up points for AIDS spreading wildly across India.
Citizen's News estimates that daily 4.8 lakh truckers are at high risk of not only acquiring the virus but also spreading it to the passive population, hitherto considered "safer from AIDS".
The figure of 4.8 lakh a day is not based on any scientific survey and may even be inaccurate. However, it may be the only figure to go by considering that no formal survey has been done so far to count the number of AIDS affected among Indian truckers.
The Citizen's News survey is based on a 15-day study by this reporter who travelled in a convoy of trucks on the longest single-stretch highway route between Delhi and Mumbai.
The report: There are around 34 lakh trucks in India. Approximately 70 per cent of them are always on the roads. It means some 24 lakh trucks cover 58, 112 km long Indian highways everyday.
Take a conservative estimate: If 50% of the truck drivers indulge in unprotected sex with multiple partners, and 10 per cent of them end up having sex with sex workers infected with the AIDS virus, the number of truckers afflicted with AIDS shoots to 2.4 lakhs. Mostly, each truck has a driver and a helper. This straightway doubles the figure -- 4.8 lakh.
