Towards AIDS prevention and education at the University of Malawi
MacLachlan, M.; Namangala, J.J.; Kabambe, S.
Central African Journal of Medicine 41(6): 174-178
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0008-9176 PMID: 7664319 Document Number: 449189
In Malawi, 175 male and female students of an introductory psychology course at Chancellor College of the University of Malawi completed a questionnaire designed to elicit their opinions on the prevention of and education about HIV/AIDS. No significant differences between the ratings of males and females on how to stop HIV/AIDS from spreading existed. The students identified the most important topics for HIV/AIDS education to be how to protect yourself from HIV/AIDS (score = 6.81), sexual behavior and HIV/AIDS (6.61), and different ways to contract AIDS (6.48). The students gave the highest ratings on how to prevent HIV/AIDS from spreading to giving people as much information as possible (6.45), discovering a vaccine (6.17), finding a cure (6.01), and discouraging sex outside of marriage (5.99). The factor analysis by varimax rotation revealed that the students rated self-protection as most important for HIV/AIDS education, but it was in conjunction with a desire for sex-perpetuation (accounting for 25% of the variation in students' responses). These findings suggest that students would appreciate lectures on AIDS and that the abstinence approach may be unrealistic. The informed harmony factor (accounting for 16% of the variation) supports the importance of good personal relationships regarding sexual behavior. In conclusion, these findings prove valuable to health promotion efforts as they apply to HIV/AIDS prevention at Chancellor College.