Sex, HIV/AIDS and Students: A Baseline Study in Agona District in the Central Region of Ghana

Abstract

The dreaded disease AIDS is on the increase in Ghana. To eradicate it, a number of organizations are stepping up the campaign against the disease. However, it has become necessary to know the attitudes of the youth especially junior and senior secondary school students to sex as well as their awareness levels about the facts concerning HIV/AIDS. As a result, the views of 222 students were sampled in the Agona District in the Central Region of Ghana. From the results it was realized that the students were actively involved in sex and some of them started at the early age of eight years. Regrettably, a sizeable number of those of them engaged in sex did not use the condom. Some of them avoided the condom to avoid negative remarks from others and as a result of shyness. Some of the students did not know the cause of HIV/AIDS whilst others thought that
HIV/AIDS is due to a curse from God or gods and only offenders contract the disease. Some respondents did not even believe in the existence of HIV/AIDS. Despite the fact that some of the respondents had good knowledge of the modes of spread, symptoms, preventive measures and ways of living with people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), a large number of them also had all kinds of misconceptions. Respondents also seemed to have very little idea about why one should have sexual intercourse.