A Study of the Knowledge, Awareness, Perceptions and Beliefs (Kapb) on HIV/Aids of Teenagers in the Lower East Coast Demerara (Guyana)
Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to investigate the
Knowledge, Awareness, Perceptions and Beliefs (KAPB) of teenagers aged between
15 and 19 living on the Lower East Coast of Demerara (Cummings Lodge to Mon
Repos) on HIV/AIDS. Randomly selected sixty Lower East Coast of Demerara
teenagers were interviewed using a four page questionnaire and twenty one
questions. The questionnaire was selected from the module on HIV/AIDS in the
UNICEF End Decade Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS).
In response to a planned 2000 World Summit for
Children, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) developed the Multiple
Indicator Cluster Survey as a useful tool for collecting data on primarily
women and children. The following organizations worked together to develop the
first MICS - UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations
Statistics Division, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the
United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Five rounds of
MICS were done globally in 1995, 2000, 2006, 2009 and 2012 – 2014.
The results are presented in a manner that is
consistent with UNICEF End Decade MICS Model Report. The results of the study
will summarize key findings associated with teenagers aged between 15 and 19
living on the Lower East Coast of Demerara knowledge of the modes transmission
of HIV/AIDS from mother to child, discriminatory attitudes towards people
living with HIV/AIDS, knowledge on three means of preventing HIV transmission,
their beliefs/misconceptions about HIV transmission. This study will calculate
the percentage of teenagers who have ‘sufficient knowledge’ of HIV/AIDS
transmission.
Given that Guyana has a high rate of teenage
pregnancy. It is important that these issues be examined. This study is
particularly relevant at this time when HIV/AIDS has emerged as an important
health issue.
References:
[1.] Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF.
2008. Guyana Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006.
[2.] End Decade Multiple Indicator
Cluster Survey Manual, Division of Evaluation, Policy and Planning, Programme
Division, UNICEF, 2000
[3.] Guyana Multiple Indicator Cluster
Survey Report, Bureau of Statistics (Guyana), July 2001
[4.] State of the World Population,
2013, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 2013
