Knowledge about HIV/AIDS, Risk Reduction Behaviors and Readiness to VCT. Focus on Public and Private College Students in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

      Аннотация: The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has created an enormous challenge worldwide. HIV and its effect, the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), are rampant worldwide problems with broad social, cultural and economical implications. The present study, therefore, has investigated College students’ knowledge about HIV/AIDS, Risk Reduction Behaviors and Readiness to undergo Voluntary Counseling and Testing for HIV ( VCT ). The result indicated that knowledge about HIV/AIDS did not predict the students’ Readiness to access VCT services. However, knowledge about HIV/AIDS together with Risk Reduction Behaviors was found to contribute for the students’ Readiness to access VCT. With this regard, it was known that HIV/AIDS prevention is not mainly a problem of transmitting knowledge but rather one of changing attributes and overt behaviors. Even when people have good understanding and awareness of the virus, they are not changing their behavior, as there are so many contributing factors that lead people to behave in a certain way or which prevents them from changing their behavior.

Ключевые слова: HIV/AIDS, VCT, Risk Reduction Behaviors, Readiness for VCT