Knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention among students in a junior high school in Jakarta.
Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no. E11454)
Hanifah L Yayasan Mitra Inti, Jakarta, Indonesia
Data from the Indonesian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare up to October 2001 showed that the greater percentage of those suffering from HIV/AIDS are youth. Therefore, there is a need to explore youth's knowledge of HIV/AIDS risk behavior. This paper aimed at presenting junior high school student's knowledge towards HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention. The study design is cross-sectional survey to assess the knowledge of all student in grade one of one junior high school in Jakarta. The survey conducted on November 2001 with 118 students as a total population (boys: 62, girls: 56) aged 11 - 13 years old. The survey shows that 92.4% student have ever heard about HIV/AIDS. Almost 80% of them said that the use of ex-used syringe could transmit the HIV infection. Moreover, 62.7% said that HIV could transmit from pregnant women to her fetus as well as from breastfed (42,4%). Moreover, only 16.9% revealed that mosquito's bites will not transmit the HIV infection while 10.2% said that HIV was not transmittable by sharing food with an HIV-positive person. On the other hand, half of them knew that an HIV-positive person could look healthy and be faithful to 1 partner as well as abstinence (26.3%) could prevent the HIV transmission. The unevenness suggests that students have a superficial uneven knowledge of HIV that could prevent them from acting effectively to prevent infection. The fact demands an intensification of the information, education and communication (IEC) campaign on HIV/AIDS with particular focus on youth. In addition, peer education and other forms of IEC, employing both multimedia and interpersonal approaches must be considered.
Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Infections, Students, Schools, Knowledge, HIV Seropositivity, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Risk-Taking, Cross-Sectional Studies, Adolescent Behavior, Adolescent, Human, Male, Female, Pregnancy, transmission, prevention & control
