About the Company
Apollo Tyres Company is one of India’s leading automobile tyre manufacturers. The company has four plants: Kalamassery, Perambra, Limda and Pune. Commercial production began in 1977 with an installed capacity of 420,000 tyres and a similar number of tyre tubes. Today the company is a leader in the Indian tyre industry with a network of over 4,000 dealers, the largest in the country.
HIV/AIDS in India
The epidemic in India has raised eyebrows because of the huge number of people living with HIV and AIDS. According to India’s National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), there were 5.1 million adults living with HIV or AIDS in the country by the end of 2004 – the second highest country case count after South Africa. Widespread stigma and discrimination present tremendous challenges to prevention efforts. The main mode of transmission is heterosexual sex and the epidemic is largely being driven by high risk groups such as long distance truck drivers and commercial sex workers.
There are 5 to 6 million truckers in India, aged between 25 to 50 years, who ply the long distance roots in this vast Asian country. According to Apollo Tyres sources, there is an estimated HIV prevalence level of 11-16 percent amongst long-distance truckers in India. This translates to about 0.3 to 0.5 million truckers living with HIV/AIDS today in the country. The nomadic lifestyle and constant job insecurities of truckers make them particularly vulnerable to a series of occupational hazards and health problems. Many of them abuse alcohol and drugs, and have paid unprotected sex along the long distance routes they traverse contributing to the spread of the disease.
Apollo Tyres and HIV/AIDS
In 2000, the company initiated a pilot community program predicated on awareness, education, prevention, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among truckers. Apollo Tyres is implementing a unique HIV/AIDS community program that is reaching out to thousands of people nationwide through its influence in the transport sector. This unique community program was launched in the Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar (SGTN), Asia’s biggest transport township near New Delhi, and the central hub for trucks traveling all over India. Every day as many as 5,000 trucks pass through SGTN, which has a daily mobile population of 4,000 to 5,500.
The company started a clinic in SGTN where the truckers and other community members are able to receive treatment for various health conditions, condoms, and education on STIs and HIV/AIDS. Studies have shown that long distance truckers in India are more vulnerable to STIs, a predisposing factor to HIV infection. Surveys by Apollo Tyres in 2000 showed that nearly 10 percent of the company’s truck drivers and mechanics carried an STI, and 75 percent engaged in sex with commercial sex workers.
Working with IFC
In 2004, IFC initiated conversations with Apollo Tyres and other IFC clients in India on how to assist them to proactively address HIV/AIDS in three areas: the workplace, companies’ clinical facilities, and the community. Consequently, in 2005 Apollo Tyres submitted a proposal to IFC for funding of a project worth US$144,000. The project has three main components: (a) to scale up the HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention program at its four factory sites; (b) to enhance the medical capacity to address HIV/AIDS at clinics supported by Apollo Tyres; and (c) to address the epidemic among a much larger trucking community across India.
Awareness and prevention
Under the first component, the project is working to raise HIV/AIDS awareness at Apollo Tyres’ four factory sites across the country. The program targets the workforce, on-site vendors, and local small businesses. Workshops are conducted by qualified individuals from the Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS.
Enhancing the medical capacity
The second component, enhancing the medical capacity to address HIV/AIDS, has two parts. The first part involves awareness and training for all factory medical officers (MO) and one individual from the communications or human resources functions. This group undergoes training from the International Labor Organization (ILO) on STI and HIV/AIDS in the workplace and a one-week stint at an HIV/AIDS care home. The purpose is to create awareness and impart basic counseling skills to work with STIs and HIV within the employee population and nearby communities. The second part involves retraining for staff at the company’s clinic in SGTN. This piece is managed by three individuals: the project coordinator, one counselor or pharmacist, and an outreach worker. The idea is to enhance the existing skills and ensure the sustainability of the clinic in SGTN. These individuals will later be expected to lead the standardization of practices in other clinics supported by Apollo Tyres.
Addressing HIV/AIDS in the trucking community
Under the third project component, addressing HIV/AIDS in the trucking industry, new clinics will be established in key trans-shipment locations across India. The clinics will replicate the successful SGTN model in New Delhi, while focusing on reaching a larger number of individuals within the trucking community. In addition, among the truckers themselves, peer educators will be trained to work directly with their colleagues.
Funding
Funding for the HIV/AIDS workplace and community project is from three main sources: the IFC, Apollo Tyres itself, and other NGO partners.
Partnerships
Apollo Tyres has entered into partnerships with a number of government bodies, NGOs and international agencies for this project.
- DFID: In 2000 Apollo Tyres partnered with the British department for international development (DFID) to launch the pilot project at SGTN for the trucking community. This partnership focused on three key areas: (i) STI diagnosis and treatment; (ii) condom promotion; and (iii) behavior change communication. The clinic has a comprehensive STI and HIV prevention program for mobile populations. It provides high quality general health services to truckers and the entire transport community including helpers, mechanics, welders, commercial sex workers, municipal authorities, transport companies, booking agents, labor contractors, and spare part shop attendants in SGTN.
- CARE India: Another partnership is with CARE India in the area of capacity building. The NGO manages the training of staff, designs behavior change communication strategies and management information systems.
- TCIF: In keeping with its goal of a pan–Indian perspective, Apollo Tyres has partnered with the Transport Corporation India Foundation (TCIF), which is part of the Transport Corporation of India. The foundation manages a large scale HIV preventive intervention among truckers along highways NH2 to NH9 across several states, and works with Apollo Tyres on a project called Kavach to promote the adoption of safer sexual practices and behaviors. This work is done through three clinics called “Khushi” located in Autonagar in Hyderabad, Pune, and Nagpur.
Future plans
Continuing to work with local and international partners to expand the STI and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention work across India remains a major goal of Apollo Tyres. Plans are underway to establish four more clinics in locations in the west, north and south of the country, and create a model where in three years the clinics will be handed to the community. The company is looking at training factory medical officers and human resources staff to create a core working committee, and introducing an effective workplace awareness policy.
Lessons learned and application to other corporates
- Partnerships are critical to the success of an HIV/AIDS program targeting large communities.
- Through its distribution and marketing network, and communication expertise, a company can provide its partners with excellent opportunities to implement various HIV/AIDS prevention and education programs.
- By positioning itself as a partner in development, a company can positively influence the health of an entire community.
- By concentrating on a high risk and highly mobile group like truckers, a company can play a tremendous role in preventing infections across the country.
