Capacity Building for Truck Drivers Organisations in Implementing HIV/AIDS Programs for their Drivers

UPDN has received funding from The National Global Fund Program for HIV/AIDS, TB, AND MALARIA through TASO/MARPI to implement a 5 Months program targeting Truckers in Uganda, with the following objectives;

1. Build capacity of 150 leaders of 30 Truck Drivers’ Associations in Uganda to ably implement HIV/AIDS and related diseases interventions in Four border locations (Elegu, Malaba, Mpondwe, and Mutukula) then the fifth location being Greater Kampala and Wakiso-Completed with above target achievement as number of leaders reached were 183 as opposed to 150

The following were the Achievements of Activity 1:

Key successes

1. Full participation of the planned participants and stakeholders contacted for the activity
2. Participants were happy for the opportunity to engage with relevant authorities and leaders. The relevant authorities and leaders were equally happy for the opportunity the workshop offered them to interact with and hear from the truck drivers’ leaders whom they said were their major clients, given their respective roles and responsibilities in those locations
3. We were able to hold HTS at the different locations which enabled us to identify and link into care 4 new positives among the participants from the 5 locations. 2 participants who were previously enrolled but dropped out of treatment were also successfully returned to care
4. All the other border posts on top of Elegu already had offered coordination space (public relations) for truck drivers and Health issues that Truckers in those locations would utilize as long as they were able to furnish and facilitate the responsible human resource to manage the space
5. We leveraged the project resource by utilizing the Government Customs Board rooms in 2 locations of Elegu and Mpondwe

Key Challenges:

1. Excess number of participants in all project locations. Many Truckers’ leaders showed interest and we couldn’t take all of them but still exceeded the initially planned number of participants
2. We identified duplication of services by implementing partners in locations like Malaba
3. Stock out of HIV self-test kits at the time. Recently the country has been experiencing mass stock-out. The team had limited numbers of self-test kits for distribution to the participants who were so much interested in them as all up-country locations lacked them at facilities yet the team had planned to pick them from there as the guidelines require
4. Some border posts lacked completely any dedicated services delivery points with most hotspots not having services on top of in existence of standard minimum packages for dedicated facilities across the country and lack of a coordination mechanism among the existing IPs

Key Recommendations:

1. Need for DIC establishments at busy border post locations like Mutukula and Elegu that lack them
2. Need to stock existing DICs with self-test kits and improve on the minimum services package in them including building capacity of the human resource working in those upcountry areas
3. There is a need for more similar training with a focus on key aspects like; PrEP education
4. UPDN needs to be supported to digitalize the directory for better impact as well as to disseminate the directory among key stakeholders
5. Facilitate 2 Dialogue meetings conducted by the trained peers above monthly in the 5 locations targeting 20 Truckers per dialogue for 4 months-aiming to reach 800 Truckers in the 4 months-Ongoing
6. Develop a user-friendly HIV services delivery facilities’ directory for truckers; capturing data on Facility, Location, Services offered, Contact Person/s, Truckers’ Hotspots-print and disseminate the directories to support the uptake of services in the target facilities by the Truckers while on road-On going

SUMMARY STATEMENT ABOUT THE ONGOING DIRECTORY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Truck drivers in Uganda, especially those on long-haul routes, face challenges in accessing timely and appropriate HIV/AIDS, STI, and TB services. Limited knowledge of service delivery facilities, their locations, and available services contribute to these challenges. The UPDN recognizes the urgent need to address this information gap and has proposed the development of a digital directory to facilitate access to vital healthcare facilities along major highways and border posts

The current project is aiming at:

1. Collecting, updating, and documenting Truckers’ HIV/AIDS dedicated services delivery facilities’ data for dissemination: Gather accurate and up-to-date information on HIV/AIDS, STI, and TB service delivery facilities along major highways and border posts, including designated health facilities, implementing partners, coordinates, contact details, services provided, hotspots served and hours of operations. This is intended to improve coordination among Implementing Partners, eliminate duplication of efforts such as more than one IP, implement uncoordinated and similar interventions in the same areas/hotspots because of different donor streams, and as well strengthen linkages and referrals of Truck Drivers across the existing facilities throughout Uganda
2. Printing and disseminating the directory to 840 target users, especially Truck Drivers’ and relevant stakeholders in Uganda for increased uptake of available services by the truck drivers
3. The Directory content has incorporated documentation of existing hotspots for truck drivers along the various trucking routes in Uganda to strengthen Government, Development, and implementing partners’ planning for improvement using the documented data on existing hotspots against hotspots being served by existing service providers