Awareness of AIDS among school children in Haryana

The study is aimed to assess the existing level of knowledge of school children of 9th and 10th classes about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Three high schools in an urban area and three in the villages of a district of North India were included in the study. A pretested closed-ended questionnaire was administered to 336 students available. Overall level of knowledge about AIDS was found to be high. However, there were significant differences in knowledge among rural-urban and male-female students. There were some misconceptions in knowledge regarding transmission, prognosis and prevention. Books and media were the most common sources of information. Most of the students wanted to learn more about AIDS. Since overall knowledge levels were high we conclude that AIDS education should concentrate on clarifying areas of misconceptions.