Assessment of community-based intervention programs on the knowledge and risk perception of allied workers on HIV/AIDS

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Background: Adequate knowledge of HIV is an important tool in preventing and control of the virus. Workers in rural communities may not have assessed to adequate education and counseling on preventing themselves from acquiring the disease unless there is an intervention. This study sought to assess the impact of 3-year community-based intervention programs on the knowledge and risk perception of allied workers about HIV/AIDS in Bonny Kingdom. Methodology: This is a quantitative study that employed a structured questionnaire among a representative sample of allied workers aged 15–49 years. The data obtained included the sociodemographic characteristics such as age, sex, education, occupation, and marital status and information related to HIV/AIDS. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. Results: This study comprised baseline and postintervention surveys with 419 and 587 respondents, respectively. The overall knowledge of HIV in both the surveys was 77.3% and 86.4%. Baseline respondents showed a poor knowledge of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (28.2%) and injection route of the disease (37.7%) as compared to 66.9% and 73.4% among the intervention group. About 64.0% of the baseline respondents were at significantly higher risk of acquiring HIV as compared to 18.1% among postintervention group (P < 0.001). Thirty-two (7.6%) had multiple sexual partners at baseline, while 21 (3.6%) had in postintervention. The proportion of respondents who had transactional sex or sex with sex workers was 13.4% in baseline and 2.4% in the postintervention survey. Conclusion: This study has found a significant improvement in the knowledge about HIV and reduction in risky sexual behavior among the allied workers in an African rural community; it is advocated that this program be extended to other rural communities on a regular basis.