Knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS among some senior secondary school students in Katsina, Nigeria

Abstract

A cross sectional study to determine the knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS among some senior secondary school students was undertaken in Katsina, Katsina State, Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to provide preliminary data on HIV/AIDS knowledge and awareness among young people in Katsina. A 26 item, English-language questionnaire was pilot-tested and administered to a sample of 120 students across 6 selected secondary schools, namely: Women Teachers College (WTC), Day Sahara D/S), Government Secondary School kofar Yandaka (K/Y), Government College Katsina (GCK), Kiddies International School (KIDs), and Ulal Albab Science Secondary School (ULAL). The questionnaires were coded and analyzed using the SPSS software. The data was then subjected to simple descriptive statistical analysis. There were fairly distributions in the number of male and female respondents, 86% aged 16-20years. Also 96% known what HIV/AIDS is but only 52.5% believed that HIV/AIDS has cure. There was also high awareness of the fact that the disease can kill (96%). Television (71%), poster (66.6%), radio (66%), and public lectures (60%) were the major source of information on HIV/AIDS. There was a very good positive attitude on the studies secondary school students towards those infected with HIV/AIDS as only 15% and 18% says that they would drive them away and boycott them respectively.

Key words: Knowledge, Awareness, HIV/AIDS, Secondary School Students.