| Popis: |
South Africa remains severely impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with an estimated 5.7 million people living with HIV in 2008. The sustained high levels of HIV infection among women in their reproductive ages warrants attention in order to guide effective health promotion programs. The characteristics of different regional sub-epidemics in South Africa also requires an in-depth analysis of behavioural risk factors in situ. This study aimed to investigate HIV/AIDS perceptions of youth and women in a rural area of the Limpopo Province as part of a larger survey on HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitude, beliefs and behaviour. A qualitative method was used to collect data with focus group discussions and in-depth interviews of key informants in randomly chosen villages. Data analysis was guided by a pragmatic variant of grounded theory, supported by NVivo8 software and based on the framework of the main study. Initial categories were refined by constant comparison and memo writing, and overlapped with themes emerging through analysis, including ignorance and doubt regarding the existence of HIV/AIDS; fear and stress of HIV testing; AIDS threat; and fatalism, powerlessness and consumerism with regard to high risk sexual behaviour. Several misconceptions and folk beliefs related to HIV transmission were found, and mixed attitudes towards HIV counselling and testing were observed. All participants perceived HIV/AIDS as a serious threat and felt vulnerable due to high risk sexual behaviour, which included age mixing, multiple partnerships, alcohol and drug abuse, and lack of condom use. The findings revealed the need for policy intervention planners to acknowledge the 2 importance of group support and community-based approaches to delivering health education and promotion activities in rural communities. |
