Abstract:
The spread of HIV infection especially among the adult population and its burden has been a source of worry to government and researchers all over the world. Efforts are being made towards findings ways of preventing the spread of the virus and basic to these efforts is assessment of the knowledge, attitude and preventive practices towards HIVIAIDS among rural adults. To achieve this, a cross-sectional study was designed. 200 adults were selected using systematic random sampling. Respondents were interviewed using KAP questionnaire. The results showed a high level of awareness of the existence of HIVIAIDS in the group under study (87%). The knowledge of a virus as the causative agent of AIDS was rather poor (35%). It was observed that there was a high rate of risky sexual behaviour in the people studied as 50% of those who have had sexual intercourse before the study have more than one sexual partner and only 11.1% of them use protective measures consistently during sexual intercourse. Large percentages (45%) of the rural adults were of the opinion that the best option to take if screened to be HIV-positive is to attend a health-care facility. It was also realized on the level of formal education had a direct positive impact on the attitude and preventive practice towards HIV/AIDS. Therefore, it is very necessary that the government and all stakeholders should make formal education accessible to all rural dwellers in particular and all the citizens in general in order to curb the spread of the HIVIAIDS pandemic.
