Supporting road safety and health messaging in Kenya

Up to 80% of trade destined for East African markets enters the region through the Port of Mombasa in Kenya. From here begins the Northern Corridor, a transport route stretching more than 1,700 kilometres inland. The Kenya National Highways Authority estimates that between 2,000 and 3,000 truck drivers depart the port every day, carrying goods that sustain businesses, livelihoods, and households across the region.

More than a third of these journeys pass through Kenya to reach land-linked destinations in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For the drivers responsible for transporting these goods, this often means spending many weeks on the road, far from their families and facing significant physical and emotional strain. 

Long periods behind the wheel often contribute to negative health outcomes and increased safety risks. These challenges are compounded by limited access to formal training across the sector, and many drivers have few opportunities to receive up-to-date road safety education due to demanding schedules and irregular routes, and taking time away from the road frequently means losing income, making participation difficult.

Despite the importance of the sector, the lives and challenges of truck drivers often remain largely invisible, surfacing mainly through troubling statistics. In Kenya, according to the National Transport and Safety Authority (2021) road traffic fatalities along the corridor rose by 64% between 2019 and 2020, highlighting the urgent need for interventions that protect both drivers and the communities living along the corridor.

In November 2024, with support from Lloyd's Register Foundation and in partnership with North Star Alliance, international development organisation Transaid launched a campaign targeting truck drivers working along the corridor. The initiative combined road safety and health messaging while promoting roadside health services at key rest stops.

North Star Alliance Wellness Centres are strategically located along the corridor, offering a range of health and well-being services designed for mobile populations such as professional drivers. However, truck drivers often have very limited time to access services, making clear, targeted, and engaging communication essential.

To support the campaign, two factsheets were developed. The first promoted HIV testing and encouraged drivers to know their status, recognising that long-distance drivers and the communities they interact with face increased vulnerability to HIV transmission and that continued efforts are needed to reduce stigma and support treatment uptake. The second focused on cargo security, providing a practical vehicle walk-around checklist developed in partnership with the Kenya Transporters Association.

Following training organised by Transaid,  outreach teams visited truck parks near Wellness Centres and engaged drivers in short information sessions lasting around ten minutes. Drivers were then given the factsheets as leaflets or stickers, with many choosing to display the stickers on their trucks, helping to raise awareness among other road users along the corridor.

In total, 1,795 truck drivers received factsheets and in-person briefings during the campaign, exceeding the project’s original target by 50%. In addition, through WhatsApp channels managed by the Kenya Transporters Association, digital fact sheets reached an estimated 5,000 additional drivers nationwide.

These interactions between outreach teams and drivers led to a substantial rise in attendance at two targeted Wellness Centres within the Mombasa port enclave, with footfall more than doubling. There, truck drivers and roadside residents accessed a wide range of specialist services, including drug and alcohol counselling for 698 individuals, while 2,656 people were screened for communicable diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis.

Conversations with drivers further revealed concerns around vision and eye irritation. In response, Transaid quickly mobilised additional funding and recruited eye health specialists to deliver 4,107 eye assessments. Of those screened, 971 (24%) received corrective glasses, while 110 (3%) were referred to specialist clinics for further evaluation and treatment.

For more than two decades, Transaid and its partners have worked to strengthen the connection between driver health, wellbeing, and road safety. This project shows that interventions designed around drivers’ schedules can effectively deliver practical safety knowledge while significantly increasing uptake of health services. These approaches minimise disruption and help overcome barriers that might otherwise increase risk, delay diagnosis, and contribute to preventable illness or disease transmission.

The health needs of mobile populations are constantly evolving, which is why projects like this benefit from built-in feedback loops. The addition of a vision acuity component illustrates the value of designing initiatives that allow partners to adapt and respond to emerging needs, and when necessary, bring in new and additional expertise to maintain quality, relevance, and impact.

Since completing this project in the summer of 2025, Transaid has secured additional funding to launch a second phase responding to continued demand for corrective glasses among truck drivers.

The project aims to provide a further 1,000 pairs of glasses while engaging drivers with two new up-to-date health and safety factsheets helping to keep road users safe, support healthy communities, and help ensure drivers return home safely to their families.

You can read the full project Technical Brief on Transaid’s Knowledge Centre.