HIV-Related Stigma as Barrier to Voluntary Counselling and Testing among University Students in Sudan
[1]
Amar Fathi Mohamed Khalifa, Consultant of Community Medicine, World Health Organization, Khartoum, Sudan.
[2]
Elsadig Mahgoub Eltayeb, Consultant of Community Medicine, World Health Organization, Khartoum, Sudan.
[3]
Awad Ali Mohamed Ahmed Alawad, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medical Sciences and Technology, Sudan.
Background: Sudan is one of the countries with HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of over 2%. Despite this challenge, the patronage of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) is still very low. Objective: To assess the role of stigma as a barrier to HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) utilization, among Sudanese university students. Methods: A cross sectional institutional based study. Students from two universities, which containing Voluntary counseling and testing centers were the study population. Results: A total of 2224 students (mean age 21.7 yr, 57.7% females) had responded to all questions they were asked (response rate 73%). The study found that the levels of HIV/AIDS knowledge are good, but the acceptability of VCT among the students is very low. Although 755 participants (33.9%) expressed intent to use the VCT services, only 233 (10.5%) actually visited the VCT facilities. One of the main barriers for testing was ‘fear of being stigmatized’ in 52.7% of the participants. Conclusion: This study illustrated that stigmatization constituted a major hindrance to acceptances of HIV/AIDS VCT. This indicated that more awareness should be created among university students in Sudan in order to enhance the uptake of VCT services.
HIV/AIDS, Stigma, Voluntary Counseling and Testing
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