On the Move: The Response of Public Transport Commuters to HIV/AIDS in South Africa

Introduction

According to the All Media Products Survey (AMPS) there are 18,3 million commuters in South Africa, of whom 77% are taxi commuters and 33% commute on buses or trains. The highest proportion of commuters are located in KwaZulu-Natal,22%, followed by 19% in Gauteng and 12% in the Northern Province. The ratio of males to females is 48:52.

This large mobile audience has good potential for interactive HIV/AIDS activities, and over the past five years commuters have been targeted on an ad-hoc basis by various organisations. One example of an HIV/AIDS specific campaign was a sustained condom promotion activity conducted by the Department of Healthin 1996/97 using minibus taxis. This involved the training of selected drivers inthe provision of basic HIV/AIDS information and the location of free condoms on some 400 branded taxis. By the end of the project over 600 000 condoms were being distributed on a monthly basis. Other commuter site activities have been conducted by provincial health departments and non-governmental organisations and have included dissemination of materials on AIDS related days, condom dissemination, and short-duration promotion of HIV/AIDS issues.

The Commuter AIDS Information Project is a two year activity developed by the HIV/AIDS and STD Directorate of the Department of Health, South Africa. The project runs from October 2001 to September 2003 and is conducted by a partnership of four organisations - Comutanet; DramAidE; the Centre for AIDS Development, Research and Evaluation (Cadre) and the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA). The project targets the commuter population through providing basic HIV/AIDS information, referral information, condoms and leaflets via kiosks located at 20 urban commuter sites countrywide. The kiosks, which are managed by Comutanet, are situated prominently at each site and are regularly used for consumer product promotion. Two trained NAPWA members are located at each kiosk. Training and support is provided by DramAidE, and the project is promoted by Comutanet utilising exterior taxisignage, kiosk signage and advertising inserts on Star Music. The Star Music concept involves the free distribution of popular local and international music interspersed with short commercials to taxi drivers on a bimonthly basis.

Objectives

This research study was designed to assess the potential of the project as well as to inform a general understanding of commuters in South Africa. Objectives include:

• providing a demographic profile of commuters;
• providing a baseline understanding of awareness of HIV/AIDS and relatedissues;
• providing an understanding of HIV preventive practices;
• providing an understanding of orientation towards HIV/AIDS care andsupport;
• providing an indication of the perspectives of commuters in relation to the Commuter AIDS Information Project.