Key Beliefs Underlying Students’ Behaviour and Decisions towards HIV/AIDS: Implications for Educational Interventions

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Education programmes towards HIV/AIDSprevention are still considered important in response to the epidemic. The study sought to determine key beliefs underlying students’ decisions and behavior towards HIV/AIDS. Beliefs are so pervasive that it merits consideration in behavioral interventions, especially among audiences who are exposed daily to its socializing influences in Ghana. This paper reports on the qualitative approach of a mixed method study involving Junior High School students in Obuasi, Ghana. Data was collected from three sets each of boys, girls and mixed groups’ focus groups and teachers’ interviews and analysed using thematic technique. The value-expectancy theory served as theoretical framework explaining individual‘s strength of motivation to strive for a certain goal to the expectations to attain the desired goal and the incentive value of that particular goal. The conclusions posit a preference for the promotion of abstinence and a dislike for condom promotion to curb the HIV incidence despite perceived prevailing sexual activities among students. The motivations towards abstinence was generally explained within value-based and futuristic expectation framework: pleasing God for blessings, pleasing family to gain respect and social approval, keeping virginity, avoiding negative consequence, and pursuing education for better future and marriage. The findings suggest, values may represent important protective factor: adolescents who strongly identify with such position may less likely engage in HIV risk-related behaviors. A threat to comprehensive HIV education was however, observed due to lack of self-efficacy and apathy towards sex and condoms education influenced significantly by respondent’ beliefs and sensitivity to cultural issues.

 Major advances have been made in almost every area of the HIV epidemic response. However, progress for adolescents is falling behind becoming the leading cause of their death in Africa. Deaths are declining in all age groups, except among 10–19 year olds where new HIV infections are not declining as quickly as among others. Adolescent girls, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, are most affected. In 2013, more than 860 girls in South Africa became infected every week, compared to 170 boys.

Ghana’s epidemic, described as generalised according to WHO classification, has been on a downward trend with national HIV prevalence from 3.6% in 2003, 2.7% in 2005 to 1.9% in 2007  and 1.47% in 2014 [3]. Despite low national incidence, many “hotspots” record high prevalence of infection. Six out of the ten regions exceed 2.1% (Eastern: 3.7%; Greater Accra: 3.1%; Ashanti: 2.8%). In the 15-24 age groups, the rural areas recorded 1.1% whilst the urban areas recorded 2.4% among pregnant women. A total of 1,889 new child infections (17% of all new infections) were estimated to have occurred among children 0-14 years. The 15-24 year group accounted for 2,901 of the new infections (26% of new infections), of whom 64% were female. An estimated 250,232 persons with 21,223 children (8%) are living with HIV; 11,356 new infections and 9,248 AIDS-related deaths recorded in 2014. Annual AIDS death among children between 0-14 years is estimated at 1,295.