Abstract

The city of Itabaiana, Sergipe State, Brazil, is considered the national capital of truckers. Besides, it is one of the most used routes connecting the northeastern of Brazil to the city of Santos, in São Paulo State, considered, in the past, the world capital of AIDS. To justify this study, we took into consideration also other features, such as low education and the well-characterized macho culture in this group. We aimed to identify how much knowledge and beliefs about AIDS and HIV prevention are socially shared among these professionals in the city of Itabaiana, focusing in the effectiveness of the printed materials in the process of health education. Seven individuals were interviewed and their answers were structured and analyzed to obtain their knowledge profiles about AIDS-related important factors such as contamination/transmission, prevention and HIV status. In addition, we evaluated the effectiveness of the printed materials used in campaigns for prevention and educational purposes from the point of view of these workers.

Keywords:
Aids; Trucker driver; Prevention; Health education