<p>Background: In Namibia, studies showed that HIV/AIDS affects youth, especially the under 24 years age group. At the same time the pregnancy rate is also high by age 19. Interestingly, in&nbsp / Andara district several reports from staff working in the reproductive services have indicated that adolescent girls, who would seem to be taking responsibility in one sphere of their sexual lives&nbsp / by protecting themselves against unwanted pregnancy, were however not using condoms to protect themselves from HIV infection. Study Aim and Objectives: To describe the knowledge, attitude and behaviour related to HIV/AIDS amongst female adolescents who are accessing the primary health care (PHC) services for contraception. Specific objectives were to describe the&nbsp / knowledge of female adolescents who are accessing the PHC services for contraception about the modes of transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS, to assess their attitude with regards to&nbsp / condom use, abstinence and being faithful to one uninfected partner, also to determine the significance of association between age and knowledge, attitudes and behaviour, between their&nbsp / education level and knowledge, attitudes and behaviour and the significance of association between knowledge of HIV prevention strategies and&nbsp / behaviour of female adolescents accessing&nbsp / &nbsp / PHC services for contraception in the district. Setting: The study was conducted in Andara district, North East of Namibia. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional KAB study. Sample: All female&nbsp / adolescents who are accessing PHC services for contraception selected from multistage simple random sampling in 5 facilities and systematic sampling at facility level in Andara. All married&nbsp / women within this age range were excluded in the study. Data collection tool: An interviewer-administered standardised questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data analysis and&nbsp / Interpretations: Epi Info software 2002 was used for data analysis. The results were presented using descriptive statistics including means, 95% confidence intervals and percentages and&nbsp / this information was shown in tables, bar and pie charts. Cross-tabulations of knowledge, attitude and behaviour scores against demographic variables were performed. P-values &lt / 0.05 were&nbsp / &nbsp / considered statistically significant. Results: 76.5% knew that unprotected sexual intercourse was the main way of getting HIV/AIDS, 77.3% knew that people could protect themselves by&nbsp / abstaining from sexual intercourse and 64.5% knew that people could protect themselves by having one uninfected faithful sexual partner. Out of 192 respondents who stated that unprotected&nbsp / sexual intercourse was the main way of HIV/AIDS transmission, 25.5% used condom every time they had sexual intercourse, 10.9% used condom almost every time they had sex, 41.1% used&nbsp / condom sometimes and 22.4% never used condom. Older girls and those who were in higher grades at school had more knowledge that could protect them from HIV infection. Later sexual&nbsp / debut is associated with increased&nbsp / condom usage at sexual debut. Conclusions: The general HIV knowledge of respondents and their knowledge of how to&nbsp / protect themselves from HIV infection were disappointing given that this&nbsp / study was conducted in health facilities. In this study we also see that knowledge does not always translate into the appropriate behaviour. The health services need to evaluate the targeting and&nbsp / effectiveness of their HIV educational messages and develop skills that will support behaviour change.&nbsp / </p>

The challenge that confronts South Africa 's emerging democracy is that an increasing percentage of its population is being infected with HIV/AIDS daily . The socio-political impact of the disease has resulted in the development of a variety of macro-level interventions. Despite these initiatives, there has been no decline in the spread of the epidemic. The increasing prevalence of HIV infection among young South Africans in particular, has necessitated an exploration into their risky sexual behaviour. A closer study of the social fields of practice, where knowledge is not only produced, but is constantly contested, negotiated, reproduced and embedded, is suggested. This study uses the principles of feminist theory to focus on gender roles and the related issues of power and risky behaviour. The central argument of this work is that the traditional construction of sexuality, which encourages sexual aggression and promiscuity among young men, alongside female sexual passivity and ignorance, are gendered factors which fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS . In order to examine young peoples' perceptions of the role of gender and risky behaviour, I engaged young people, who were already in the field, to conduct the research. An exploration into the processes of enabling young people to conduct research, while linking the production of meaning to the possibility of human agency and transformative social action, formed an evolving methodology in this work. The research was designed to provide young people with a space for active engagement, participation, immersion and reflection, en route to becoming researchers. Young researchers who conducted research in their youth communities served as deep insider researchers, who possessed an awareness of the slogan systems and semiotics which operated within the cultural norms of the community. The young researchers conducted the inquiry by using a multiplicity of methods, which included visual methodologies, individual interviews and questionnaires. They solicited most of the data from a wider group of 15 to 19 year old African and Indian learners . These learners, who were mainly from a lower socio-economic background, attended the co-educational school, in the province ofKwaZulu Natal in South Africa. The findings of this study reveal how young researchers become empowered by acquiring increased competence in doing research and achieving a greater understanding of the influences of gender and power on risky behaviour. The research report offers methodological insights into the training and enablement of young people as researchers. It reveals how catalytic validity enables a transformation in the young researchers, who, having achieved a heightened understanding of the purpose of the research , actively participated in the research process. The study is significant because it reveals the gradual effacement of the main researcher from the research process, as a natural consequence of engaging young researchers to solicit, generate and interpret data. These new insights evolved as a result of taking the risk of allowing oneself, as a main researcher, to "get off track" and to enter uneven social spaces by doing research differently. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

Multiple sexual partnerships play a very significant role in the spread of HN with epidemiologists suggesting that these partnerships possibly drive the epidemic. According to epidemiological evidence, a reduction of these partnerships would have a substantial impact on the epidemic. Like most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Zambia is facing a crippling HIV epidemic with prevalence in the 15-20 percent range. In light of this, this study explored youth perceptions of multiple sexual partnerships in the contex,t of HIV/AIDS. The main aim of the study was to provide some insight on these partnerships with the hope that this will shed some light on why these partnerships exist and what barriers and opportunities for change exist given Zambia's high HIV prevalence. The findings of this study suggest that there are several social, cultural, economic and environmental factors that influence the existence of multiple sexual partnerships among the youth. In addition, the study also shows that while young people acknowledge the benefits of faithfulness in sexual relationships, there are several barriers that prevent the youth from being faithful. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

In the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, men who have sex with men (MSM) have experienced high levels of infection. Consequently, this population is considered a crucial target for prevention, care, and treatment efforts. In sub-Saharan Africa, however, most HIV transmission occurs via heterosexual intercourse, and 60% of HIV cases are women. African HIV epidemics are thus classified as “heterosexual” phenomena, and MSM are rarely targeted by public health programming. Epidemiological studies now show that African MSM often have greater HIV prevalence than the general population. Behavioral research further indicates elevated sexual risk and low prevention-related knowledge levels among these men. Moreover, denial, stigmatization, and criminalization of male homosexual conduct across Africa have created social climates in which MSM remain “hidden,” fearing rejection or arrest. This has heightened their vulnerability to HIV infection. To counteract this trend, public health advocates call for prevention interventions adapted to the needs of African MSM. In a few countries, local NGOs have begun mobilizing around the “MSM issue.” However, little information exists about HIV prevention among MSM in sub-Saharan Africa and the associations undertaking it. Using a case study of one such association – Alternatives-Cameroun – this project aimed to explore the factors affecting design and implementation of HIV prevention interventions for MSM in Cameroon. Homosexual conduct is illegal in Cameroon, and MSM are frequently harassed and arrested. Nonetheless, Alternatives-Cameroun has launched prevention programming that reaches “hidden” MSM and addresses their unique characteristics. Through qualitative research involving stakeholder interviews and personal observation, this project found that local, national, and international factors all influence choices of intervention content and delivery formats. Interventions are designed by Cameroonian MSM, for Cameroonian MSM, but are also informed by empirical research and outreach principles drawn from other contexts. Implementation is a challenge in Cameroon’s hostile and resource-poor environment: stakeholders bear physical, emotional, and financial burdens during outreach. However, internal dynamics and foreign support help Alternatives-Cameroun mitigate these obstacles. This project reveals that understanding local realities and reinforcing multi-sectoral mobilization around MSM issues are important first steps towards launching HIV prevention interventions for MSM in sub-Saharan Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This ethnography explores the practice of sex tourism in Negril, Jamaica, and its sociocultural, economic, and health impacts on the popular tourist destination. Transactional sex with female tourists has become a popular income generator for some young Caribbean males who are excluded from formal employment in the region's leading industry. Like other resort locales, Negril draws both men and women from various parts of the country who choose to engage in sex work in order to benefit from the tourist dollars spent in Jamaica's third most popular resort area. Through the analysis of observations, interviews with residents, tourists, government officials, and health practitioners, as well as life histories of men involved in sex tourism, this study seeks to contribute to current literature on the practice and reveal its impact on the people of this particular locale. Additionally, relevant health data is utilized to examine the connection between sexual health and sex tourism locally, and to offer recommendations for effectively targeting male sex workers through risk reduction programs. This research takes a political economy perspective and applies relevant theoretical contributions from the anthropology of tourism, Caribbean gender theory, and gender performativity.

As we enter the third decade of a devastating worldwide epidemic, much has been done to stem the flow of HIV/AIDS, in particular within North American and Western European urban centres. Successful prevention campaigns in the 1980s had the immediate impact of lowering the rate of HIV infection among gay men, and anti-retroviral drug therapies in the mid-1990s have literally brought thousands of gay men back from the brink. However, by the middle to late 1990s, epidemiological and anecdotal evidence has strongly suggested that gay men have begun to move away from the safer sex orthodoxy of the 1980s. / Forty gay men ranging in age from 21 to 55 were interviewed for this study in order to determine if they have changed their approach to safer sex strategies implemented in the mid-1980s. In contrast to approaches to risk behaviour that emphasize the Health Belief Model, with its focus on the rational individual, this dissertation focused on the social contexts that shape gay men's decisions. / This study found a number of factors that influenced gay men's sexual choices, including age and the changing role of community. Younger gay men, those who have come of age during the 1990s, have taken a different approach to the AIDS epidemic. None of the younger participants in this study had lost anyone to HIV. Furthermore, they were now part of a group of men who no longer considers a HIV diagnosis to be immediately fatal. New medications have definitely shifted their approach to AIDS. Finally, this group of gay men no longer feels defined by a gay community like older gay men interviewed for this study. They believe they are coming of age in a time and place where they have more choices in how they will define themselves as gay men. For older gay men, those who lost many lovers, friends, and acquaintances during the HIV epidemic, changes in gay men's sexual risk-taking are both surprising and inevitable. These men are dealing with issues of ageism, loss and lack of visibility in a changing gay community. / Although there are different age-related arguments for abandoning safer sex strategies, this study helps to explain why there is a definite shift in risk-taking behavior underway as we enter the third decade of HIV/AIDS. It suggests new challenges and approaches for AIDS service organizations to deal with a substantive change in gay men's sexual behaviour.

More than 25 years have passed since the first cases of HIV/AIDS were reported and a decade since highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was introduced as part of the continuum of care for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The introduction of HAART as a continuum of care for PLWHA positively changed the characteristics of HIV/AIDS epidemic, contributing for significant declines of HIV/AIDS-related morbidity and mortality rates. Thus, a new era began with HAART, often referred as the “HAART era”. However, HAART also brought with it new challenges and issues for researchers working in the field of HIV/AIDS. This thesis comprises several studies that were designed to gain understanding of some issues on prevention and management of HIV/AIDS that emerged in the current HAART era. The review of the literature points out for many emergent issues in HAART era, but only some issues were researched and presented in this thesis.

Thesis (M.P.H.M.)--Mahidol University, 1999.

Thesis (M.A. (Population and Reproductive Health Research))--Mahidol University, 2003.

Thesis (M.A. (Health Social Scinece))--Mahidol University, 2006. / LICL has E-Thesis 0012 ; please contact computer services.