SCOTT COUNTY — The state health department is expanding its HIV public awareness campaign to target an audience beyond Scott County — truck drivers and travelers.
“We have evidence that over-the-road truck drivers are particularly susceptible to HIV-infected persons,” State Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams said in a news release. “When you factor in that Interstate 65 passes right through the epicenter of the current outbreak, the risk is even greater.”
The campaign is called “You Are Not Alone,” and it encourages consumers to know their own HIV status, avoid risky behavior such as needle sharing and unprotected sex and about getting treatment in positive cases. The campaign is advertised on the radio, TV, social media, online and in some print publications.
The expanded message will reach drivers along Interstate 65 between Louisville and Indianapolis, specifically encouraging truck drivers to get tested for HIV, limit their number of sex partners and avoid hiring commercial sex workers, among other precautions.
Media for the targeted campaign include posters, door decals, flyers and Wi-Fi messages in places truck drivers frequent such as restrooms and southeastern Indiana travel plazas.
On April 22, Adams sent a letter to the owners of 15 travel plazas along the interstate asking for support of the state’s mission to stop the spread of HIV in the region by placing signs in visible areas.
Health officials are also working with the Indiana Motor Truck Association, the American Trucking Association, the Indiana Department of Transportation and advertising firm Hirons and Company to place their message materials.
“INDOT is already using their electronic message signs to promote the HIV testing hotline and is planning to place signage at the rest stops near Henryville and Taylorsville,” Adams said. “We are grateful for their support and that of so many others. This truly has been and continues to be an all-hand-on-deck response.”
The state has spent $300,000 so far on the campaign that launched in March and ends in July.
Interstate 65 begins in the Chicago area and ends in Mobile, Ala., and is considered one of the nation’s heaviest truck routes. Trucks make up about 25 percent of the Indianapolis-to-Louisville stretch, according to INDOT.
Austin Police Chief Don Spicer has also said the interstate makes the sale of opioids such as Opana and other illegal drugs easier. IV drug use is the mode of HIV transmission in the region.
“It comes from everywhere,” Spicer said of the drugs during a prior news conference in Austin.
Health officials are “cautiously optimistic” that the outbreak could be slowing, as the number of new positive cases has dwindled in recent weeks, though they said it’s “too soon to tell.” The latest count of positive cases is 145 — only two up from last Tuesday’s count.