PERCEPTION OF HIV/AIDS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY AMONG URBAN AND RURAL ADULT MALES.
Abstract
Introduction: HIV/AIDS has enormous social, economic, and behavioral impacts on individuals, families, communities, and the entire world. Ever-Married adult males of (15-49 years) age group which happens to be sexually and economically the most productive age group have an eminent role and responsibility in home and society. It is believed that there is a positive correlation between knowledge, attitude, and practice or behavior. Rural people in comparison to urban people have poorer access to information and education which is critical in the context of HIV since behavior change acts as a key in controlling this disease. With this backdrop, a study was conducted to find out the difference in perception of HIV/AIDS among rural and urban populations.
Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study conducted on 40 ever-married adult males each from a rural area (Singur) of Hooghly district and from a slum (Chetla) of Kolkata.
Results: Knowledge on HIV/AIDS was significantly (p<.05) more among the urban population than the rural population regarding the possibility of transmission of the infection by sharing of food, hugging a person who has AIDS, mosquito bites, from a mother to her baby, sexual practices, sharing of needles and razors/blades
Conclusion: Substantial effort must be made to empower the rural population with adequate and appropriate knowledge of all aspects of HIV/AIDS. This, in the long run, will play a very important role in the prevention and control of this dreaded malady.
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References
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