Aids Awareness Among University Students

The present survey was an attempt to check the level of awareness regarding AIDS among the students of Punjabi University at Patiala. The sample comprised of 300 students ranging in age betwe en 20-25 yrs. The students were asked to fill the questionnaire provided. It was heartening to observe that almost everybody had heard about AIDS and no differences were observed on the basis of sex, faculty, education of the par ents or family background. Most of the students gave correct answer when ask ed about the causative agent but only twenty percent of the students were able to give the full form of HIV. However, even in such a highly educated group myths and misconceptions prevailed about the routes of transmission of virus. Regarding the transmission of HIV from the affected mothers to their babies only 8.69 percent of the people were aware that it could be transmitted both prenatally, postnatally as also through mothers’ milk . Majority of the stu dents were aware that the disease was incurable and prevention was the only cure

Family medicine · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV · Transmission (telecommunications · HIV/AIDS Impact and Responses · Medicine · Psychology · Pediatrics