Knowledge of and attitudes to HIV AIDS of senior secondary school pupils and trainee teachers in Udupi District, Karnataka, India

A cross-sectional descriptive study using a questionnaire with mostly close d-ended questions was carried out on 990 pupils and 46 trainee teachers to investigate their knowledge of and attitudes to HIV/AIDS. Pupils in one sch ool were reassessed after a health talk and distribution of a handout. Desp ite having had no formal sex education, most respondents were reasonably we ll informed about the transmission of HN. However, there were many misconce ptions about transmission and prevention and 16.9% of pupils were found to possess very little knowledge of HIV/AIDS. Mass media, teachers and health workers were quoted as the main sources of knowledge. It was found that 24. 3% pupils and 6.3% of trainee teachers thought there was a cure, and 27.4% of pupils and 14% of trainee teachers thought there was a vaccine to preven t HIV infection. Schools that were rural, private and English-speaking scor ed better, as did male students and schools teaching science. The necessity of formal sex education was expressed by 98.5% of pupils and all the train ee teachers. The pupils who were reassessed after receiving a talk and hand out showed significant improvement in their knowledge and a change in attit ude (p < 0.01). The mass media are important in disseminating knowledge on HIV/AIDS in India but due to the lack of inter-personal approaches to the e ducation system, knowledge is inadequate and misconceptions exist.