Assessment of perceived barriers to behavioral change towards the prevention of HIV/AIDS in Bahir Dar Town, northwest Ethiopia
Creators: name: Sedeta, Befekadu
Publisher: name: National Academic Digital Repository of Ethiopia
Year: 2004

description: Globally, HIV/AIDS has created an enormous challenge to the survival of mankind. It has now become the leading cause of death in many developing countries especially in the Sub-Saharan African countries. Industrialized countries have achieved significant result in the prevention and control of the disease mainly through the behavioral change interventions. Ethiopia is one of the seriously affected countries by the epidemic. The disease is affecting the majority of the population, particularly the productive age group between 15-49 years, resulting in social and economic crisis. Though continuous Information, Education and Communication (IEC) interventions have made efforts in increasing awareness about modes of transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS, they have not successfully been able to bring about the desired behavioral change among the population. Thus, the main objective of this study was to assess perceived barriers to behavioral change towards the prevention of HIV/AIDS among the urban community of Bahir Dar, where the highest prevalence of HIV infection was already documented. The study design was crosssectional, including both quantitative and qualitative methods. Using multi-stage sampling technique, 910 urban residents aged 15-49 years were selected and interviewed. The study has found out that though the majority of the population had awareness and favorable attitudes towards the prevention of HIV/AIDS, some of them did not show behavioral change towards its prevention. The perceived barriers to the behavioral change were low IEC interventions (31.3%), unemployment (29.5%), increase in illegal video showing and khat houses (28.7%), low involvement of the community in the prevention activities (22.5%), gender inequalities (12.2%), traditional malpractices (10.8%), stigma and discriminations attached to HIV/AIDS (10.1%), inadequate recreational facilities for the youth (8.1%) and low involvement of the religious organizations in the prevention efforts (7.0%). Some of the socio- demographic characteristics, namely, sex, age, marital status, occupation and exposure to mass media were found to influence change of behavior towards the prevention of HIV/AIDS. The majority of the respondents were aware of HIV/AIDS and could answer at least viii one means of transmission and preventions HIV/AIDS, but only 19.6% and 29.1% of the respondents could answer the three major means of transmission and prevention of the disease, respectively, indicating that there is still low level of comprehensive knowledge related to HIV/AIDS among the population. In general, the study indicated that the behavioral change towards the prevention of HIV/AIDS can be affected by some of the socio-demographic variables of the population. Moreover, the perceived barriers towards the prevention of HIV/AIDS among the population were low level of comprehensive knowledge about HIV/AIDS and factors related to communication, cultures, socio-economic status and gender relations. Thus, besides the poverty alleviation programs, community and multisectoral HIV/AIDS relatedinterventions through appropriate and effective IEC strategy are vital in removing the barriers and bringing about sustainable behavioral change towards the prevention of HIV/AIDS among the population.