KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF STUDENTS TOWARDS HIV VOLUNTARY COUNSELLING AND TESTING AMONGST STUDENTS IN OSUN STATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, ILESA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Globally about 70 million people have been infected with HIV virus while 35 million people have died of AIDS and 34 million people were living with HIV by the end of 2011(WHO, 2014). An estimate of 0.8% of adults aged 15 – 49 years worldwide are living with HIV with variation in epidemics between countries and regions. Sub-Saharan Africa remains most affected with nearly 1 in every 20 adults living with HIV and accounting for 69% of people living with HIV worldwide (WHO, 2014). In Africa, an estimate of 1.7 million young people is infected annually (WHO /UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS, 2006). Many youths engage in risky behaviors, with fewer than 10% of the sexually active adolescent females from countries in sub-Saharan Africa reporting condom use (Human Development Report, 2004). In Nigeria 3.4 million people are living with HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, 2013).Thus voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for young people have been recognized as a major priority within the Nigerian HIV- prevention programme.
Voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the process whereby an individual or couple undergo counselling to enable him/her make an informed choice about being tested for HIV ( Federal Ministry of Health, 2003). VCT is a major strategy designed by programme planners to combat the pandemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa (Bruce and Stellenberg, 2007). It involves community mobilization, education, increase in VCT sites, reduction of stigma, policies that protect human rights, counselling, rapid tests and confidentiality. VCT activities are implemented with other measures like sexual abstinence, marital fidelity, condom use and anti-retroviral drugs. Voluntary HIV test is an active search for HIV among healthy people and is therefore a fundamental aspect of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of HIV infection and AIDS (Park, 2007 and Ikechebelu, Udigwe, Ikechebelu& Imo, 2006). It offers holistic approach that can address HIV in the broader context of people’s lives. HIV screening is advocated for every individual from early teen years of life especially those who are sexually active or exhibit high risk behaviours ( injection – drug users and their sex partners, sex partners of HIV – infected persons and heterosexual persons with more than one sex partners).