HIV/AIDS Awareness of Male Prison Inmates in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is still a major challenge to the human race and this does not preclude prison inmates. This study was therefore designed to investigate the level of HIV/AIDS awareness of male prison inmates in Lagos, South west, Nigeria. The descriptive research design was adopted. The sample for the study  consisted of one hundred and fifty prison inmates who have been in prison custody for a period of at least eighteen months. The purposive sampling technique was adopted to obtain the sample for the study. A self-designed questionnaire namely Prisoners Knowledge of HIV/AIDS Questionnaire was used to obtain data from participants. Two research questions were raised to guide the study and one Null hypothesis was formulated and significantly tested at 0.05 level of significance. The research questions were answered using the mean responses while the Null hypothesis was analysed using a One- way Analysis of Variance. The result showed that the knowledge of participants’ on the means of transmission of HIV/AIDS is low; secondly, the participants’ knowledge on signs and symptoms of HIV/AIDS is also low. The result further indicated that there is no significant difference in the participants’ knowledge of HIV/AIDS on the basis of educational qualification. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that concerted efforts be made by all stakeholders to create and sustain HIV/AIDS awareness amongst prison inmates.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS awareness, male prison inmates, counselling,