Summary Report: Behavioural Surveillance Survey in Healthy Highway Project, India: Part 11

A total of 82% FSWs had said that consistent condom use could prevent AIDS while 14% had said that avoiding casual sex could also prevent it.

Other findings

Twenty-three percent FSWs had said that they were approached by a NGO staff for awareness on AIDS prevention during the preceding year.

Sexual health

Majority (87%) of the FSWs had said that they did not have either genital ulcer or discharge during the preceding year. Seven percent respondents had reported having only genital ulcer while 3% respondents had stated that they had genital discharge and an equal proportion had reported symptoms of both, ulcer and discharge.

Of the FSWs who had reported symptoms of STIs, 27% had said that they had taken treatment at government facility while 30% had reported having been treated at a private hospital. A total of 25% of them had stated that they had taken medicines from a pharmacy.

Twenty-two percent FSWs had said that they had undergone blood test for HIV. About 75% of the FSWs who had undergone the test had said that they had done so voluntarily.

Alcohol and drug use

A total of 45% FSWs had said that they had consumed alcohol during the month preceding the survey. Fourteen percent of them had said that they had consumed it every day while 18% had said that they consumed it at least once a week.

Key findings – zonal analysis

TThe sampling for truck drivers and FSWs was done separately for each of these zones. ^{he BSS in the Healthy Highways Project was done on highways in six zones of India.} This section compares the key findings of truck drivers and FSWs in each zone. The respective zones included different states as shown in Table 4.

Table 4: Definition of zones in the HHP BSS

1. Zone Highway stretches in the states of:
2. North Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Central Madhya Pradesh East West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
3. West Maharashtra (including those connected to Bombay) and Gujarat
4. South Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
5. North-East Assam and other North-Eastern States

Key findings of truck drivers

Demographic information

Age profile: The median ages of truck drivers ranged from 30 years in West zone to 33 years in the East Zone. About 46% to 59% truck drivers in the six zones were in the age group of 26-35 years.

Marital status: More than 78% truckers from all the zones had said that they were married.

¹The fourth state of Southern India, Tamil Nadu, was not covered in the study because truckers from Tamil Nadu have already been extensively studied through separate Tamil Nadu HIV Risk Behaviour Surveillance Surveys conducted by AIDS Prevention and Control Project (APAC).

State of origin: Truck drivers from Uttar Pradesh formed the largest proportion (32%) in the North whereas in the East zone, 37% truck drivers were from Bihar and 22% were from West Bengal. Similarly, in the West zone, 32% truck drivers were from Maharashtra while in the Central zone, 38% truck drivers were from Madhya Pradesh and 25% were from Uttar Pradesh. A total of 27% truck drivers in North-East zone were from Assam.

Literacy status: The proportion of illiterate truck drivers was higher in East zone (24%) and North-East zone (27%) as compared to the other zones.

Behavioural indicators

The proportion of respondents who reported having sex with any kind of partner (married or otherwise) during the preceding 12 months ranged from 84% in West zone to 99% in Central zones. The proportion of truck drivers who had reported ever having sex was higher than the proportion of those who were married. For example, almost all the truck drivers in the Central zone had reportedly had sex while 88% of them had said that they were married.

Type of sexual partners

The proportion of truck drivers who reported having had sex with a commercial partner ranged from 22% in West zone to 50% in North zone. The corresponding figures for non-regular partners ranged from 8% in the South zone to 18% in the North zone (Table 5). Five percent truck drivers from North zone, 4% in East zone and 3% in Central zone had said that they had sex with male partners during the same period.

Table 5: Type of sexual partners reported by truck drivers in various zones

Type of sexual partners % of respondents among truck drivers in various zones