Uganda’s Motorbike Drivers are Risking it All

Uganda’s motorcycle taxis riders threaten to derail the country’s fight against HIV because of risky sexual behaviours, including sex with clients in lieu of payment, according to a new study. At least 12% of a sample of 281 commercial riders, a common informal job known as boda boda and dominated by young men, admitted to engaging in transactional sex with customers who failed to pay their fares; 65.7% reported having had sex with more than one partner in the past 12 months; and 23% had had multiple partners in the same period, with 57.1% reporting that they did not use a condom at all in the six months prior to the survey, conducted by Makerere University College of Education and External Studies (CEES). “These project findings will go a long way in helping the government to develop scientifically proven evidence-based interventions aimed at influencing behavioural change of boda boda riders in Uganda,” said James Katunguka, road safety officer at the ministry of transport.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN