Knowledge and attitudes of young people in Guyana to HIV/AIDS

Abstract

HIV prevalence in Guyana is the third highest in the Caribbean which, in turn, is the second-most-affected region in the world. Over 2000 young people aged 12-20 years completed self-report questionnaires that examined their knowledge of HIV/AIDS, their attitudes to sexual behaviours and their intentions with regard to virginity and use of condoms. Nearly one-quarter of young people aged 12-14 were sexually active and this rose to over one-third for youths aged 15 years and over, but condoms were only used consistently by two in five of these persons. Attitudes and intentions towards sexual behaviour were significantly influenced by religious teaching as well as by gender and age. Hence, prevention strategies for the spread of HIV/AIDS should harness religious belief and practice, especially in societies such as Guyana where religious affiliation remains strong.

The Effect of HIV/AIDS Education on Adolescents in Trinidad and Tobago

“…is is similar to research conducted in South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago, which demonstrated an increase in transmission knowledge about HIV from pre-to postintervention [24]. Another study conducted among young people in Guyana between the ages of 12-20 years in which 95.6% of the respondents also knew that HIV can be transmitted by having sexual intercourse with someone who is HIV positive [25]. In two earlier studies conducted in Trinidad and Nigeria among secondary school students 100% and 83.3% of the respective secondary schools knew that AIDS was transmitted by sexual contact [26,27].…”

“…is might account for why the students in the intervention group viewed themselves as being susceptible to contracting HIV. In another study, Guyanese youth who were sexually active thought it was very possible for them to contract AIDS and those who were knowledgeable about AIDS thought there was some possibility they could contract the disease [25]. ese �ndings differ from those reported in a study conducted in rural Jamaica in which adolescents between the ages of 15-18 did not view themselves as being susceptible to HIV consistent with the personal fable of adolescence [31].…”

“…While information about the seriousness of HIV is not readily available for the adolescent population, adolescents are not usually worried that they may contract HIV [25,26,29]. Both groups in our study had high perceived susceptibility for contracting HIV, with the intervention group viewing themselves as more susceptible to the disease than the comparison group.…”

Protective and Risk Factors Associated with Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in the English-speaking Caribbean: A Literature Review

“…Being male was the major risk factor for engagement in sexual activity, early sexual debut, and having multiple sexual partners in 12 studies that assessed gender [2,4,5,6,7,9,27,28,31,33,36,37]. In contrast, females were more likely to have experienced force at first sex, and to exhibit STI symptoms, but were less likely to worry about becoming infected with HIV [2,36,37].…”

“…One study noted that females were more likely to use condoms at most recent sexual intercourse, whereas another found that males had greater intentions to use condoms [2,33]. Qualitatively, out-of-school boys stated that their lack of condom use can be attributed to trusting one's partner, not having been taught how to use a condom, and enjoying skin to skin contact; however, these same boys reported that they used condoms when they did not know the partner well [35].…”