Assessment of the Awareness, Attitude, and Practice of Prisoners in Enugu to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT)

Background: HIV/AIDS was described by WHO as a global health emergency as it is the single leading cause of death in adults. VCT combines counseling and testing into one service. It is an important strategy in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDs. Design and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among all consenting prisoners in the dormitories selected by cluster random sampling of the dormitories in Enugu prison, Nigeria. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, awareness of HIV/AIDS, VCT and attitude to HIV/AIDS were obtained using a self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using Epi Info version 6.04. Results: One hundred and thirty-five inmates participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 33.4
11.7 years. Only 48.6% of the tertiary educated respondents had gone for HIV test. All but one respondent had heard about HIV/AIDS 134 (99.3%) while 63.4% had heard about VCT. Average awareness score for HIV/AIDS is 75.0%, while awareness score for VCT is 38.0%. Family and friends were the highest sources of information on HIV/AIDS (34.6%) while mass media was the highest on VCT. If tested positive for HIV, 52.2% of the respondents would disclose their HIV status while 17.9% would like to spread the infection to others. Avoidance of extra-marital sex to prevent being infected was agreed on by 45%, while 5% had not made any behavioral change since hearing about HIV. Conclusion: Prisoners, though incarcerated, are part of the society. There is a need for prevention programs in such corrective institutions as the risk of infection is high in such places.