KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES & PRACTICES ASSOCIATED WITH HIV/AIDS TRANSMISSION & PREVENTION AMONG INMATES OF KADUNA CONVICT PRISON, KADUNA STATE
KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES & PRACTICES ASSOCIATED WITH HIV/AIDS TRANSMISSION & PREVENTION AMONG INMATES OF KADUNA CONVICT PRISON, KADUNA STATE
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Date
2005-02
Authors
JOSHUA, ISTIFANUS ANEKOSON
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Abstract
HIV/AIDS has become a pandemic affecting millions of people around the
world. Nigeria has prevalence of 5% and prisons could serve as breeding
grounds.
A cross sectional study was carried out to elicit the socio-demographic
characteristics, knowledge, attitudes and practices among the inmates of
Kaduna Convict prison associated with transmission and prevention of
HIV/AIDS.
Four hundred and forty (440) inmates were interviewed using structured
questionnaires after pretesting and 2 FGD sessions. Also the seven departments
of the prison were appraised in the area of HIV/AIDS control programmes.
The study demonstrated that majority of the inmates (75.9%) were between the
ages of 20 – 39 years, males (87.4%), 54% had secondary education, 54% were
singles, 26.9% traders and 55% were incarcerated for 1-5 years.
Fraud/forgery/cheating were the most common crimes committed (16.8%).
Almost all the respondents (96.1%) had heard of AIDS mostly through reading
(25.5%), although only few had seen or known cases of AIDS (15.4%). Despite
the fair to average knowledge about the causative agent, modes of transmission
of the virus, methods of prevention, wrong conception and attitudes, some
inmates indulged in high risk behaviours and practices (sexual and non-sexual)
associated with AIDS transmission. There were no concrete programmes on
ground by the prison authorities for the prevention and control of the disease.
It is recommended that there should be well organize IEC sensitization
programmes on HIV/AIDS for both the prison staff and the inmates, increase
the ratio of staff to inmates to improve supervision, proper classification of
cells, provision of social amenities and drugs among others (e.g. Anti TB, ARV
etc) to the inmates like other members of the society, provision of harm
reduction devices such as barbing clippers, condoms, etc by the prison
authorities and provision of soft loan and/or employment to inmates on
completion of sentences to enable them start a meaningful life.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL
FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF
MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH DEGREE
FEBRUARY 2005
Keywords
KNOWLEDGE,, ATTITUDES,, PRACTICES,, ASSOCIATED,, TRANSMISSION