Awareness against STIs / HIV / AIDS Among youth in developing countries: Case of the Mobile Caravan Project of Dschang, Cameroon
RUSSO G ,DJEUNANG D. G. B ,TIOTSIA T. A. ,TSI K ,FOTSO J. R.
CaHReF 20116, Yaoundé Conges hall, 23 – 26 August 2016 , PL035
According to UNAIDS 2013, 35 million people in the world were living with HIV, including 24.7 million in sub-Saharan Africa. The youths appear to be the most affected among the victims of STIs/ HIV and AIDS with a prevalence rate of 3.2% for those between 15-24 years, This situates Cameroon in a generalized epidemic context. The Mobile Caravan project involved in youths awareness in secondary schools requires monitoring to better support government efforts in the fight against STIs / HIV and AIDS. Our objective was to evaluate the contribution of this project on the preventive aspect of STIs / HIV and AIDS among youths in the Dschang Municipality.
A formative assessment study over three years (from 2012 to early 2015) of implementation of the mobile caravan project acting in 10 secondary schools (5 public and 5 private) in the Dschang Municipality. Data collection was done using a two-page questionnaire serving as pre and post tests. The data analysis was done using EPI Info Version 7.1.3.3 and Microsoft Excel 2013.
It appeared that, 2,029 questionnaires (932 pre-test and 1097 post-test) were administered and more than half (58.55%) of the students surveyed were within the age group of 16-21 years. Girls represented 56% of the sample, with the majority of the students (56.19%) attending private schools. In a whole 75%, or 1,515 students had acceptable level of knowledge (more than 50/100 as pre and post-tests marks) about STIs / HIV and AIDS with 654 students during the pre-test and 861 during the post-test. the increase in number of students attending the pre and post-tests for each year was as follows: 639 students in 2012, 674 students in 2013 and 716 students in 2014.
The caravan project has greatly contributed in improving the awareness on STIs / HIV and AIDS of young people in the Dschang Municipality over the years. it will be more beneficial for youths if the number of schools participating were increased. Nevertheless, the need for subventions are vital and remain a major problem for the sustainability of the project.
Evaluation, Mobile Caravan project, youths, STIs/HIV and AIDS, Dschang