RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: It is necessary to know the baseline knowledge, attitude, and practices about human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome among young people and the changes in these with intervention to guide prevention efforts. METHODS: A cross-sectional pre- and post-survey with health education as a method of intervention was carried out in four different randomly selected schools and junior colleges among the Class IX-XII students of both sex. Instrument developed by the World Health Organization (WHO)/UNAIDS in their best practice recommendations was used for data collection. RESULTS: Knowledge about all correct methods was present in 61.23% of the respondents. Knowledge of at least two methods of prevention was present in 70.31% of the respondents. Misconceptions about prevention were that good diet (33.42%), avoiding mosquito bite (49.71%) and avoiding public toilets (65.14%) could help in the prevention. With intervention, there was an improvement in the knowledge. However, the proportion of students with misconceptions did not come down. Correct knowledge about two methods of prevention also did not reach the WHO recommendation of 90%. CONCLUSION: It is very difficult to change the attitude and practices by a single health educational intervention and an ongoing behavior change communication is recommended.