Abstract
Background: Discovered in 1980s, AIDS, which breaks down human body’s immune response, is still infecting lacs and lacs of people every year. Assessing the attitude of people towards HIV/AIDS could possibly give us some solutions for the problem, given the availability of no cure nor any vaccine as of yet. Therefore, the present study to assess the attitude of population in Ambala was undertaken so that vulnerable groups could be identified and transmission of the infection could be prevented.
Methodology: A community based cross-sectional study was carried out among the population residing in the urban and rural field practice area of department of Community Medicine, MMIMSR Mullana, Ambala from January 2015 to December 2015. Systemic randomization was done and a total of 1000 participants were interviewed and the data collected was analysed by SPSS version 20.
Results: 94% of the study subjects said that people should sympathize with HIV infected individuals. 12.4% of the participants thought that sharing food, combs, sheets or sitting closely with an infected person and 10.8% thought that shaking hands, touching or holding hands in a normal way could also spread the infection.
Conclusion: Though the study subjects had favourable attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, still there were many lacunae in certain areas, which demand for extensive IEC activities to reinforce positive attitude.
Keywords: HIV, AIDS, Attitude, Assessment.
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Corresponding Author
Choudhary K