Many married women in India have still nor heard of AIDS despite increasing
risks, intensive health education campaigns and widespread scientific and
media attention. Cross-sectional survey data collected from 350 married wom
en in Bombay, India, revealed that one out of three women had not heard of
AIDS. The women who had not heard of AIDS had significantly fewer years of
formal education, lower personal and family incomes, less exposure to the m
ass media and were more likely not to know of condoms in comparison to the
women who had heard of AIDS. The results suggest that there are socio-econo
mic barriers to health information. Specific interventions targeted to this
group using specific channels of communication are urgently needed.