Knowledge and misconceptions about HIV counseling and testing (HCT) among the post-conflict youths of Gulu, Northern Uganda. A prospective study design.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Kitara, David Lagoro Amone, Charles Okello, Christopher
Copyright Year	2012
Abstract	BackgroundUganda has been reported as the most successful country in Africa in reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS from 18% to 6.4% over the last two decades. There is evidence to suggest that despite a significant decline between 1992 and 2002, HIV prevalence has stagnated over the last 5-9 years at between 6.1 and 6.5% and it is rising in some parts of the country such as Gulu. This rise are thought to be due to the high levels of stigma and superstition preventing HIV counseling and testing (HCT). WHO reports in 2009 showed that only 20% of Uganda's populations knew their HIV sero-status. This study was designed to find out the knowledge, misconceptions, attitude and practices of youths of Gulu about HCT.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Gulu, Pece among the youths 15 to 35 years. An in-depth interview using a questionnaire was administered to youths of Commercial Road Sub-ward. Informed consent and ethical approval was obtained and 86 respondents were interviewed.ResultsNinety three percent of respondents had knowledge about HCT and 97.7% were able to mention two or more of its benefits. Most (88.4%) agreed on public disclosure of their HIV status and 84.9% would encourage others to undertake it. Only 36.1% of respondents had undertaken HCT while the rest had not undertaken it due to fear of stigmatization.ConclusionThere is adequate knowledge, good attitude but poor practice and misconceptions to HCT. The young adults in Gulu should be supported in a special program to enable them undertake HCT and access other services for HIV/AIDS prevention.
Journal	The Pan African Medical Journal
Volume Number	12
PubMed Central reference number	PMC3415052
PubMed reference number	22891089
e-ISSN	19378688
Language	English
Publisher	The African Field Epidemiology Network
Publisher Date	2012-06-14
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	The Pan African Medical Journal - ISSN 1937-8688. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © David Lagoro Kitara et al.
Subject Keyword	Knowledge youths HIV counseling and testing (HCT) post-conflict Uganda
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Medicine