(Download) "HIV/AIDS Prevention Knowledge Among Youth in Cape Town, South Africa." by Journal of Social Sciences ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: HIV/AIDS Prevention Knowledge Among Youth in Cape Town, South Africa.
- Author : Journal of Social Sciences
- Release Date : January 01, 2007
- Genre: Social Science,Books,Nonfiction,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 212 KB
Description
INTRODUCTION Considerable attention has been paid in social science, medical, and public health research to the factors influencing HIV/AIDS risk behaviours. Many models of health behaviour, such as the AIDS Risk Reduction Model, the Information-Motivation-Behavioural Skills Model, and the Health Belief Model, posit that knowledge about the facts of HIV/AIDS transmission will lead to more preventive behaviours and fewer risky behaviours (1-3). HIV/AIDS knowledge among young people is of great concern in South Africa, where HIV prevalence among 15-24 year-olds is 10.3% (4). As in many other less developed countries, the primary method of HIV/AIDS transmission in South Africa is heterosexual intercourse (5). Numerous HIV/AIDS education and prevention programmes in South Africa have operated under the premise that educating youth and other high-risk groups is key to reducing the spread of the disease (6). For example, the ABC campaign, advising people to Abstain, Be faithful, and use a Condom, has received widespread dissemination in South Africa. Yet many questions remain about the level of HIV/AIDS knowledge among South African youth and their ability and willingness to make use of that knowledge to reduce HIV/AIDS risk (7-9). In a country with high HIV prevalence, understanding the level of HIV/AIDS prevention knowledge and the factors influencing this knowledge could have important and far-reaching implications on a public health phenomenon that threatens to negatively impact numerous aspects of society, ranging from health and mortality to economic productivity. This paper examines HIV/AIDS prevention knowledge and its correlates for a representative sample of youth in Cape Town, South Africa. It also examines whether the correlates of HIV/AIDS knowledge operate differently by race, an important social category in South Africa.