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afrol News, 24 February - Truck drivers and other chauffeurs have been pinpointed as some of the most important carriers of AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections in Africa. In Ethiopia and Djibouti, drivers are now receiving condoms and drugs to prevent further spread of the diseases. Soldiers and drivers in Africa are understood to the two professional groups to have most sexual intercourse with women in a geographically extent areas. It is no secret that there exists a large network of prostitutes and other women offering occasional sex to make a living along the continent's highways - from sexually liberal countries to puritan Christian and Muslim societies. Several studies also document that the rate of sexually transmitted infections is especially high along heavily trafficked transport corridors. Ethiopia and Djibouti make no exception to this. In Ethiopia, the government in collaboration with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has taken the consequence of this. Health authorities and local organisations are now to distribute so-called health kits to professional drivers along the much trafficked roads from inland Ethiopia to Djibouti - the principal harbour of landlocked Ethiopia. The health kits contain essential drugs and medical supplies to treat common sexually transmitted infections. They further include condoms as a preventive measure against the spread of diseases such as AIDS. A total of 70.000 health kits are to be distributed at this stage. The roads between Ethiopia and Djibouti have been named so-called "high-risk corridors" for the spread of AIDS. Many of the girls and women infected in the corridor are not from the regions and later return to their villages, bringing with them the deadly virus. The drivers, on the other hand, bring the infections back home to their families and villages. Ethiopia and Djibouti are among the countries of the region that are most affected by the AIDS epidemic. One assumes that about 10 percent of Ethiopia's entire population now carried the HIV virus, leading to AIDS. In Djibouti, the infection rate even is to have reached around 12 percent of the population.
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