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Knowledge, attitudes and practice in regard to AIDS: the case of social science students at the University of Bophuthatswana.

The necessity of AIDS educational campaigns is to reduce the spread of HIV infection by changing attitudes and practices related to high-risk behaviours. However, before such programmes are implemented a needs assessment should be conducted. This includes the existing knowledge and attitudes and sexual practices of the specific risk-group. In this study the risk-group were social science students at the University of Bophuthatswana. The majority of the respondents showed a general knowledge about AIDS in terms of its main symptoms, common modes of transmission and the non-availability of a cure. They, however, expressed the need for more information about AIDS. Lack of enough knowledge was shown by their negative attitudes towards those who had already contracted the disease and the number of sexual partners they had. Furthermore, despite the realization of the necessity to use condoms during sexual intercourse, the majority of them did not use them. The study also revealed the minimal role parents, teachers and lecturers play in the dissemination of information about AIDS. The findings call for more AIDS educational programmes to clear away misconceptions about the transmission of the HIV/AIDS virus; and the need to involve parents, schools and universities actively in the dissemination of information about AIDS.