Knowledge of and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS among school teachers in Belize

Although Belize currently has the highest rate of HIV infection in Central America, HIV/AIDS education is not formally included in the school curriculum. We assessed HIV/AIDS-related knowledge and attitudes of Belizean teachers.

Ninety-one teachers completed a survey of 55 questions developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA). Four outcomes included 'Knowledge of HIV/AIDS', 'Attitude towards people with HIV/AIDS', 'Instructional confidence', and 'Comfort with sensitive topics'. Multivariable linear regression was used to identify factors associated with the outcomes.

The majority of teachers scored in the average range for all four outcomes, as defined in this study. Statistically significant higher comfort and confidence levels were found for teachers with prior experience teaching responsible sexuality, those with formal training in HIV/AIDS, and for secondary school teachers. Knowledge scores did not differ significantly between any groups.

While in general teachers in Belize have good HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitude, comfort, and instructional confidence, there are several subgroups of teachers who have lower comfort and instructional confidence scores. These subgroups can be targeted for HIV/AIDS training in order to increase their effectiveness as HIV/AIDS educators.