Village-based AIDS prevention in a rural district in Uganda.

ABSTRACT

PIP: A population-based knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) survey was carried out as the first step in designing and implementing an AIDS prevention program. The design and implementation of an AIDS information campaign and condom promotion program following the results of the first KAP survey is described. Anonymous interviews on knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to AIDS were conducted in February-March 1991 on a representative sample of the adult population of the district. A 3-stage cluster sampling procedure (parish, village, household) was applied to 800 randomly selected households. In each household 1 man and 1 woman in the 15-49 age range were randomly selected and interviewed. A total of 1486 interviews (753 women, 733 men) were completed. More than 90% of respondents had heard of AIDS, and of these 90% knew that the disease is sexually transmitted and not curable. During September 1991-January 1992 of the information campaign, an estimated 50,000 people attended the village-based information sessions, and 45,000 pamphlets and 40,000 condoms were distributed. A second KAP survey was carried out during September-October 1992 to evaluate the impact of the AIDS prevention program. A total of 1744 questionnaires (874 women, 870 men) were completed and analyzed. Knowledge about the prevention of AIDS had improved substantially, from 40% to almost 70% of the respondents. Overall 39% of respondents knew that the time between infection and disease is more than one year, as compared to 26% at baseline. The proportion of respondents willing to take care of a family member suffering from AIDS had increased from 60% to 77% (p 0.001) between 1991 and 1992. In addition, the proportion of respondents who had ever used condoms increased from 23% to 46% among those who had engaged in casual sex in the past year. However, the overall proportion of respondents who had ever used a condom had remained at 3%. About half of the condom users complained about lack of access to condoms.