Health and hope for the future

HIV and AIDS present a huge problem in South Africa. Some 26 per cent of the country’s population is HIV positive, although in some areas that figure reaches 50 per cent. Knowledge and information are important weapons in the fight against HIV and AIDS, particularly among young people. Volvo Group is supporting the Star for Life Program, which aims to reduce the number of HIV-positive students and give them hope for the future.

“It’s a kind of mental vaccination. Getting young people to think twice and do something about their situation,” says Anders Lindblad, president of Volvo South Africa. The support relates to eight schools in the Durban area, where the Volvo Group has a factory and dealerships.

The Star for Life Program is one of several initiatives against HIV/AIDS in which we are involved. For the past few years, Volvo South Africa has been investing in helping and informing its employees. Using voluntary tests, training and preventive programmes, the target is to reduce the spread of the virus among employees. Truck drivers are also a vulnerable group, and special HIV packages containing information and condoms are included in every new truck we deliver.