AIDS campaign targets drivers

AIDS campaign targets drivers

CIREBON, West Java: Local heath officials have started an information campaign on AIDS for truck drivers.

Twenty-six truck drivers took part in a one-day course held in cooperation with the Jakarta-based University of Indonesia yesterday.

Officials said that truck drivers were highly susceptible to the incurable disease because they often visited brothels during their long journeys, which often kept them away from home for several days.

Chief of the local branch of the land transport organization, Organda, Iskandar A.B., told Antara that the 26 drivers were expected to pass the information on to their colleagues.

Cirebon, which borders Central Java, does not have any recorded AIDS cases but is considered vulnerable to the spread of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. (pan)