AEGiS-08IAC: Primary school AIDS education: experiences from Tanzania.

8th International AIDS Conference

Amsterdam, Netherlands — July 19-24, 1992

Primary school AIDS education: experiences from Tanzania.

Int Conf AIDS 1992 Jul 19-24; 8:We58 (abstract no. WeD 1068)
Jacobson M, Simba S; Selian Lutheran Hospital, Arusha, Tanzania.

ISSUE/PROBLEM: Epidemiology shows that sexual transmission of HIV takes place at a young age in Tanzania. It is then critically important that children learn about AIDS before they become sexually active. Introducing AIDS education into primary schools is controversial given cultural and religious concerns about encouraging early sexual activity among children.

DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT: Our hospital initiated a project to 1) make primary school teachers aware of the epidemic; 2) to develop a primary school AIDS education manual; 3) to train teachers to be able to teach AIDS education to primary school students; and 4) to assess the change in AIDS knowledge among the students receiving the AIDS education.

RESULTS: Students demonstrated a major increase in their knowledge of AIDS and its prevention following the training. Students of the upper primary school grades were comfortable with the subject matter. Many became multipliers of this information by sharing it at home. Teachers are an effective vehicle for presenting AIDS materials to students. LESSONS LEARNED: Participants will learn of one successful approach to introducing AIDS education to the primary school student. The primary school is an excellent point of contact with youth for effective teaching about AIDS before they have become sexually active.

Keywords: AEGIS, Schools, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Health Education, Students, Faculty, Teaching, Sex Education, HIV Infections, Curriculum, Health Education, Dental, Tanzania, Child, prevention & control, education, ICA8
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