The Effects of an HIV/AIDS Education Programme on the Attitude of Selected Illiterate Women in Northern Nigeria towards HIV/AIDS Prevention

The effects of HIV/AIDS education programme on the attitude of illiterate women towards HIV/AIDS prevention is the focus of this study. It examined their awareness of transmission of HIV/AIDS, awareness of prevention of HIV/AIDS, perception of persons living with HIV/AIDS and perception of voluntary counselling and testing for HIV/AIDS. The study area is Abuja and a structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from twenty five illiterate women from Northern Nigeria extraction resident in Abuja. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting the respondents and the data collected were analyzed with the use of descriptive statistical tools (frequency count and percentages). The study showed that a high percentage of the respondents have wrong information about HIV/AIDS and a small but significant percentage is not aware about HIV/AIDS issues. The study further showed that HIV/AIDS education helped to raise the awareness of the respondents about HIV/AIDS significantly and correct erroneous ideas about HIV/AIDS held by the respondents. The study concluded that with HIV/AIDS education programmes tailored to meet the information needs of illiterate women, the fight to control the spread of the disease will be enhanced and a HIV/AIDS-free world will be made possible