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‘Just kidding. I'm white!’ knowledge, perceptions and attitudes of white and Indian male university students towards HIV prevention

ABSTRACT This article reports the findings of a qualitative study that explored what white and Indian students at a South African university felt and knew about HIV prevention. The study explored the knowledge, perceptions and attitudes of white and Indian male students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's (UKZN) Howard College towards medical male circumcision (MMC) as an HIV prevention procedure. The study was prompted, in part, by a cynical tweet by Justine Sacco, which implied that HIV is an exclusively black disease. More substantially, the research aimed to fill a gap in studies of non-black student demographics with regard to HIV prevention. The level of knowledge and the attitudes of white and Indian male students were explored to establish the acceptability of HIV prevention amongst these two demographics. To what extent do non-black students care about HIV prevention and prevalence amongst themselves? The prevention method selected for the study was MMC - a choice informed by UKZN's formal adoption and roll out, in 2013, of MMC as its latest HIV prevention strategy for students and staff. The study, which sampled 40 students, was rooted in the Health Belief Model, which explains health behaviour change in terms of barriers, benefits and cues to action, as well as the Social Ecology Model, which recognises the interwoven relationship between individuals and their greater environment. A qualitative, interpretive, exploratory research design was employed. Data were collected using semi-structured interview questions, and analysed thematically. The findings suggest a relatively widespread perception that white and Indian students are not at risk of HIV, demonstrating that the association of HIV with a specific race is both a sad fact and a sign of enduring prejudice and stigma.