Attitudes of young people aged 15-25 years towards the "ABC" strategy in the prevention of HIV/AIDS in Francistown, Botswana

Abstract

A quantitative, descriptive and comparative study was conducted to determine the attitudes of young people aged 15-25 years towards the “ABC” strategy in the prevention of HIV/AIDS in Francistown, Botswana. Differences between two age groups and gender were determined. Structured questionnaire was used and 241 young people participated in the study. Data were analysed with SPSS version 13.0, guided by the Health Belief Model. The findings revealed that young people did not perceive the seriousness and severity of the HIV/AIDS when it came to the practice of “ABC” strategy. Young people’s cue to action was very high but their confidence to adopt and practice the “ABC” strategy were low. They had adequate knowledge of the benefits of abstinence and condoms but they perceived barriers towards the use of condom. The differences between the two age groups, 15-19 and 20-25 years and between the males and females were not statistically significant.