HIV/AIDS Education: Level of HIV/AIDS Knowledge from the Gender Perspectives

  • Farhana Kamarul Bahrin, Mahathir Yahaya, Masarah Mohamad Yusof, Azlinda Azman

Abstract

HIV / AIDS education for young people play an important role in reducing the AIDS epidemic globally. It is reported that the Malaysian is still ignorant about HIV/AIDS, especially the cause of HIV and AIDS infection. In 2016, a total of 103 new HIV / AIDS cases involving 13 - 19 years old (Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2017) were reported. Every day, there is an increase in the prevalence of HIV among adolescents aged 13 - 29 years. About 90% of young people have been infected with HIV through sexual activity. Surveillance data reveals that more than two-thirds of young men are reported to be involved in homosexual or bisexual activity. In addition to high-risk behaviors, young populations often experiencing stigma, discrimination and violence that discriminate them from seeking health services and HIV. Fearing legal consequences and exposure to family members, many of them prevent themselves from seeking HIV care. In this regard, the study focuses on exposing school students to information on HIV and AIDS. The objective of this study was to analyze the level of knowledge of middle school students on HIV / AIDS issues before and after information interventions on HIV/AIDS. The study involved 600 15-year-olds, 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds in Penang through three sessions involving pre-test, intervention and post-test. The results show that there is a positive change in the level of knowledge and this change in knowledge level is different from the context of gender. This study has suggested the need for implementation of information dissemination on HIV/AIDS in secondary schools in Malaysia as a formof intervention to ensure that teenagers have basic knowledge of HIV / AIDS.

Keywords: gender, community health, HIV/AIDS education, teenagers.

Published
2020-06-06
How to Cite
Farhana Kamarul Bahrin, Mahathir Yahaya, Masarah Mohamad Yusof, Azlinda Azman. (2020). HIV/AIDS Education: Level of HIV/AIDS Knowledge from the Gender Perspectives. International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, 29(04), 2652 - 2656. Retrieved from http://sersc.org/journals/index.php/IJAST/article/view/21139