HIV counseling and testing among men in the University of Ghana: Implications for gender-based HIV and AIDS prevention interventions

Abstract

HIV counseling and testing (CT) is one of the key strategies in the prevention and control of HIV and AIDS in Ghana. Although condoms remain a significant tool in the prevention of sexual transmission of HIV, they are often not used consistently or correctly due to some patriarchal beliefs resulting from the typical male roles that call for men and boys to be tough, aggressive, sexually dominant, and risk taking. What is more, the utilization of CT services among men is generally low. We therefore conducted a quantitative study of 600 men (median age = 22 years) to determine HIV counseling and testing among men in the University of Ghana. Overall, CT use among men was 19%. Of those who used CT, 84% did so voluntarily. The major barriers to CT use among men were due to 'non regular use of a condom', 'don't want to know', and 'fear of receiving an HIV positive test result'. Results however revealed that age of respondents had a significant influence on HIV counseling and testing among men (p<0.05). Key words: Human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, Human immunodeficiency virus counseling and testing, voluntary human immunodeficiency virus counseling and testing, University of Ghana, men