Effectiveness of an HIV prevention program for secondary school students in Mongolia

To evaluate the effectiveness of a 3-year human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention program for adolescents attending secondary school in Mongolia.

Comparisons of knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy and safe sex practices of grade 10 students from schools with a peer education prevention program to grade 10 students from schools without the intervention. Peer education programs were launched in 2000 across Mongolia. In 2004, survey data was collected among 720 randomly selected students from eight schools with the peer education prevention program and compared with those of 647 students from eight schools without this intervention. Data was collected in Ulaanbaatar and three Mongolian provinces and analyzed using multilevel regression methods.

Students of schools with the program were statistically significantly more knowledgeable, had less traditional attitudes, and had greater awareness of their self-efficacy in regards to HIV and sexual health. Students from schools with the peer education program were more likely to practice safe sex, though the difference was not statistically significant. However, safe sex practice was found to be statistically significantly safer in a subset of schools that had small teams of peer educators.

Adolescents in Mongolia are sexually active and at risk for infection with HIV and other STIs. Peer education programs, particularly those that are managed by small teams, appear effective and should be implemented more broadly.