Knowledge about HIV/AIDS among secondary school students

BACKGROUND: HIV/AIDS has emerged as the single most formidable challenge to public health. School children of today are exposed to the risk of HIV/AIDS. AIMS: The study was conducted to determine the knowledge among secondary school students regarding HIV/AIDS and provide suggestions for HIV/AIDS education in schools. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among students of tenth to twelfth standard in the intermediate schools of Lucknow, India, from July to October 2011. A total of 215 students, both boys and girls, were enrolled in the study. RESULTS: In this study, for majority of the students (85%), the source of information about HIV/AIDS was the television. Regarding knowledge about modes of transmission of HIV/AIDS among girl students, 95.1% of them told that it is through unprotected sex. A total of 75.8% students said that it was transmitted from mother to child. CONCLUSION: It was observed that the knowledge of the school students was quite satisfactory for most of the variables like modes of transmission, including mother-to-child transmission of the disease. However, schools should come forward to design awareness campaigns for the benefit of the students.