Attitudes of female street vendors towards HIV/AIDS in Vhembe district of South Africa

Background: The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are still global health problems. This study was conducted to describe the attitudes of female street vendors (FSV) in Thohoyandou, Vhembe district, towards HIV/AIDS and those infected with the virus.Materials and methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Data were collected by means of a structured, self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0.Results: Majority (85.0%) of the participants had completed secondary education, 46.7% were single and 41.5% were aged 40 and above. Most of them (90.5%) indicated that they would accept to do a voluntary HIV test. Fear of stigmatization ranked highest among the reasons given by those not in favour of testing. Whilst 91.0% of the participants reported that they can stay in the same house with a person who is HIV positive and 88.5% said they would not have sex in exchange for money, only 57.5% indicated that they would agree to take antiretroviral drugs if they tested positive in pregnancy. The level of education was found to be significantly associated (p-value = 0.000) with the type of attitude shown towards HIV and those infected.Conclusion: It is recommended that HIV information providers and health workers in  outh Africa pay more attention to enlightening women about the importance of taking antiretroviral drugs in pregnancy to reduce the incidence of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.Keywords: Attitude; female street vendors; HIV/AIDS; health workers, antiretroviral drugs

ATTITUDES OF FEMALE STREET VENDORS TOWARDS HIV/AIDS IN VHEMBE DISTRICT OF SOUTH AFRICA

Background: The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are still global health problems. This study was conducted to describe the attitudes of female street vendors (FSV) in Thohoyandou, Vhembe district, towards HIV/AIDS and those infected with the virus. Materials and methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Data were collected by means of a structured, self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results: Majority (85.0%) of the participants had completed secondary education, 46.7% were single and 41.5% were aged 40 and above. Most of them (90.5%) indicated that they would accept to do a voluntary HIV test. Fear of stigmatization ranked highest among the reasons given by those not in favour of testing. Whilst 91.0% of the participants reported that they can stay in the same house with a person who is HIV positive and 88.5% said they would not have sex in exchange for money, only 57.5% indicated that they would agree to take antiretroviral drugs if they tested positive in pregnancy. The level of education was found to be significantly associated (p-value = 0.000) with the type of attitude shown towards HIV and those infected. Conclusion: It is recommended that HIV information providers and health workers in South Africa pay more attention to enlightening women about the importance of taking antiretroviral drugs in pregnancy to reduce the incidence of mother-to-child transmission of HIV

Knowledge and beliefs about sexually transmitted infections among rural high school learners in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Adolescents are exposed to many sources of information on reproductive health, yet little is known about how well these sources are correctly educating them about sexually transmitted infections (STI) including HIV and AIDS. The aim of this study was to assess basic knowledge and beliefs pertaining to STIs among rural high school learners in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data from a sample of 150 learners recruited randomly from grades 10, 11 and 12. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic information, beliefs, symptoms and types of sexually transmitted infections. Approval to conduct the study was received from the Eastern Cape Department of Education and the school authority. Participants’ mean age was 18.8±1.7 years; 65.1% were females and over 70% of the participants hailed from either very poor (11.7%) or poor (60%) homes. The findings indicate that 58.2% either discussed sexual issues with their peers or nobody. Although the majority (64.2%) of the participants believed that condoms can prevent STIs, only a third believes that STI can be cured using medication. With regard to identifying symptoms of STIs, the number of participants that correctly identified them with “yes” responses ranged from 16.7-28%; and among a range of STI types identified, HIV was the only type the majority (67.3%) of the participants were able to identify correctly, followed by gonorrhea (37.0%) and syphilis (31.9%). It was established in the study that knowledge of HIV as a type of STI was significantly associated with the belief that condoms can prevent STIs (p=0.013). Results also showed significant relationships between discussing sexual issues with( parents, educators, peers and no-one) and knowledge of some STI symptoms like foul smell (p=0.021), blisters on the penis (p=0.033) and clear vaginal discharge (p=0.021). These results indicate that learners have poor and inadequate knowledge about STIs. The study, therefore, recommends that all School Health Promotion programmes must involve parents, educators, health workers and communities in addressing reproductive health issues that affect the youths

Sexual risk behaviours among rural learners at Mdutshane Senior Secondary School, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

The purpose of this study was to determine and describe the prevalence of risky behaviours among the learners in a rural secondary school in the Eastern Cape Province. A cross-sectional sample of 150 learners in grades 10-12 with mean age of 18.8±1.73 years was undertaken. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire which was designed to collect demographic information and risky behaviour practices. The study found that overwhelming proportion (86%) of the participants were sexually active; and of these, 3.23% reported having their sexual debut at age 10. The results also reveal that 46.1% reported contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) which was far higher than the 2002 national average prevalence of 7.4%. In addition, only about 1 in 4 (24%) participants discussed sexual issues with their parents/guardians. Reproductive health promotion programmes should be intensified in schools especially among rural learners with strong parents and community involvement.Keywords: Sexual risk behaviours, prevalence, learners, South Africa