Knowledge of STD/AIDS Among Nigerian Youths Notin-School and Their Risk Reduction Behaviour
| Autor: | Peter O. Ogunjuyigbe |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2003 |
| Předmět: |
education.field_of_study
medicine.medical_specialty biology business.industry Population Developing country General Medicine Disease biology.organism_classification medicine.disease Social group Social support Tanzania Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) medicine education business Psychiatry Socioeconomic status Social psychology |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Human Ecology. 14:87-92 |
| ISSN: | 0970-9274 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/09709274.2003.11905603 |
| Popis: | Peter Olasupo OgunjuyigbeINTRODUCTIONEfforts to find a solution to the AIDS pande-mic so far has been characterized by the use ofshort-cuts that bring quick results. This hasresulted in stereotyping certain categories ofpeople as high-risk behaviour groups and therebyconcentrating attention on them. These includehomosexual and intravenous drug users in theindustrialized countries and female prostitutes indeveloping countries. The most important routeof transmission is heterosexual and globally themajority of people who will develop AIDS in thefuture will also be heterosexual. Chin notes thatby the year 2000 around 90 percent of the globalAIDS cases would be found in the generalheterosexual population (Chin, 1992). Rutenberget al. (1994) also established in Tanzania thatheterosexual contact accounts for about 80 per-cent of all infections in the country. Heterosexualtransmission is thought to be responsible for atleast 80 percent of HIV infections in sub-SaharanAfrica (AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, 1992).Certain groups of people have, therefore, becomemarginalised and hence cut off from both main-stream heterosexual and targeted homo-sexualprevention campaigns. Incidentally, some of suchmarginalised groups have become the bridgealong which the HIV escapes from the so calledhigh-risk groups to the general population.One major effect of earlier researchers' focuson high-risk behaviour groups is the fear andprejudice that has characterized AIDS globally.Some recent researchers have, therefore, calledfor the redirection of attention from the behaviourof individuals and groups towards institutions andenvironments within which they operate, therebyallowing the conditions within which the beha-viour occurs to be studied (Muir, 1991). Clelandet al. have stated that pending the developmentof an effective vaccine or therapy for HIV/AIDS,behaviourial change is the only means of avertingthe continued spread of the disease (Cleland etal., 1992). They argued that the advent ofeffective biomedical prevention is unlikely tobring a complete solution to the problem, unlessit is accompanied by changes in sexual behaviour.Adolescents and young adults are generallybelieved to be at increased risk of becoming infe-cted with HIV because they are in a stage of cog-nitive, physical and emotional development andexperimentation with sex and drugs. Youths not-in-school in Nigeria, most especially those stay-ing on their own, could be particularly vulnerablebecause they may engage in a higher-risk beha-viour and because they may be alienated fromsocial service providers and school systems. Thisputs them outside the AIDS information networkswhile they themselves lack the social support tochange their behaviour. Despite the fact that theproblem of youths not-in-school in Nigeria hasnot reached an alarming proportion, evidenceabounds that they exist and are growing in numberprobably as a result of the prevailing economicsituation. This group is in part the product ofeducational and economic reforms that took placeunder the country's structural adjustmentprogramme introduced in 1987. Many parentscould no longer afford the ever-increasing schoolfees payable in Nigerian schools and this mighthave forced many of these youths out of school.Prior to the appearance of AIDS, the primarystrategy used to control the spread of sexuallytransmitted diseases (STDs) among the sexuallyactive relied on secondary preventive activities.Primary efforts to cause behaviour changethrough education were not actively pursued.However, increasing attention is now beingfocused on the medical risk to the young unmarri-ed and sexually active of contracting STD andAIDS in particular. Youths not-in-school are ofparticular importance because many of them areout in the streets with very little parental orguardian support.The present study therefore makes the youthnot-in-school the focal problem. This is expedient |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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