The Risk Lies in Not Knowing HIV AIDS Awareness and Acceptance towards PLWHA

Human Immunodeficiency Virus HIV is a disease that targets and changes the human immune system, increasing the risk and impact of other infections and diseases. Without treatment, this virus progresses to an advanced disease called Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome AIDS . Ignorance of HIV AIDS can lead to the stigmatization of PLWHA. This prevents PLWHA from contributing to society meaningfully and damages their social and psychological health. This study sought to determine the level of awareness towards HIV AIDS and the level of acceptance towards PLWHA among senior high school SHS students in the 9th cluster of Toledo City, Cebu. It further sought to determine whether or not a correlation exists between the students' awareness and acceptance towards PLWHA. To arrive at these, this study utilized questions adopted from Carey, Beedy and Johnson 1997 , and Unnikrishnan, Mithra and Reshmi 2010 for HIV AIDS awareness and HIV AIDS Acceptance, respectively with slight modifications in the wording for the students' comfort. The respondents of this study were 336 SHS students, selected via stratified random sampling from an overall population of 2,094 SHS students. The study found that the respondents exhibited a high level of awareness about HIV AIDS, as well as a high level of acceptance towards PLWHA. Further, it was found that there is a statistically significant correlation between gender and awareness of HIV AIDS. It was also found that there is a statistically significant correlation between gender and attitude towards PLWHA. This study arrived at the conclusion that there is a statistically significant and strong correlation between the respondents' awareness and attitude towards PLWHA. Gordon Matthew C. Suico | Christy B. Alfeche "The Risk Lies in Not Knowing: HIV/AIDS Awareness and Acceptance towards PLWHA" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-6 , October 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd47674.pdf Paper URL : https://www.ijtsrd.com/medicine/other/47674/the-risk-lies-in-not-knowing-hivaids-awareness-and-acceptance-towards-plwha/gordon-matthew-c-suico