Low AIDS awareness among Indian women

Although the literacy levels in the country have risen substantially in the last few decades, the knowledge about certain issues is woefully lacking. According to a recent report by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), about 60% of Indian women have never heard about AIDS. This report coming in the wake of a governmental policy to increase AIDS awareness among the masses, reveals that a majority of women in India have no knowledge about AIDS. Of the remainder, most have no knowledge about the preventive measures used for the disease. Awareness was found to be especially low in the rural areas and among less educated women. The study found that awareness increased with an increase in the level of education of women. Compared to 92% of educated women who knew about the disease, only 18% of illiterate women were aware of it. Bihar was the state lagging behind the most in awareness levels where only 12% women reported knowledge about the condition. Other states having low levels of awareness less than 23% were Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It was also observed that the states that reported an increase in the number of cases of AIDS, were also the ones to report an increase in the awareness levels. Of these, the front runner was Manipur followed closely by other Eastern states. This could prove a pat on the back for the government whose awareness campaigns seem to have worked in these areas. In Delhi, the awareness has increased from 36% to 79% since the last survey conducted in the early 1990s. The study also shows that there is need to create awareness about preventive measures for the disease. Of all the preventive and treatment methods, the interviewed women had knowledge only about the limitation of sex partners. Some of them also knew about infection due to unsanitised needles and other medical equipment. Education seems to be the keyword for the prevention of this condition.

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