Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of HIV/AIDS among High School Students in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Millions of people are living with HIV worldwide, and more than half of these people are adolescent, aged between 12-25 years. Insufficient knowledge, bad attitudes and unsafe practices are major impediments in preventing the transmission of the virus. 420 students from grades 9-12 were selected through random sampling from different schools in Eastern Cape. The majority of students assessed (95.5%) were knowledgeable about the spread of the virus but 35.2 percent to 66.2 percent of them had misconceptions on its transmission. 63.1 percent perceived positive attitudes towards PLWH, 73.9 percent would continue to study in a class/school with them and 45.2 percent would allow a HIV positive teacher to continue teaching them. Logistic regression analysis result revealed that level of knowledge was statistically significant with attitudes (OR = 8.7, 95% CI = 4.3-16.4, p < 0.002). In spite of sufficient HIV/AIDS knowledge among respondents, misconceptions on routes of HIV/AIDS transmission were reported. Negative and undesirable attitudes to PLWH and unsafe practices were also found.