Research has established that AIDS is not just a medical problem. Social factors may act either to speed or retard the spread of the disease. Despite these findings, HIV/AIDS prevention programs have been developed on the basis that well-informed individuals are less likely to participate in unsafe sexual practices. They have further assumed that changes in knowledge or increased awareness will lead to changes in behaviors. Unfortunately, most studies have failed to report significant relationships between knowledge, awareness, and sexual behaviors. Current findings suggest that socio-demographic attributes, i.e., level of residence and gender, may play a critical role in the degree to which individuals respond to HIV/AIDS information and the degree to which they choose to engage in risky versus non-risky behaviors. Grounded in the Health Belief, this research devises and tests a statistical model to predict the extent to which background factors, cues to action, and perceived severity of HIV infection/AIDS influence behavior change. Data from the nationally representative 1998 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey (N = 8063) are used to assess the relationship between background factors (i.e., gender, level of residence) and environmental stimuli (i.e., exposure to HIV/AIDS information) on awareness of HIV/AIDS and involvement in risky versus non-risky behaviors. Results indicate that involvement in risky versus non-risky health behaviors can be significantly predicted from background and environmental factors. Analyses of sub-samples show that background variables interact with awareness of HIV/AIDS to promote or preclude involvement in risky behaviors among Cameroonians. The present study provides strong evidence of the importance of socio-demographic factors in predicting HIV/AIDS risk behaviors and the utility of using Western public health models to assess behavior change from background, HIV/AIDS information, and awareness of HIV/AIDS in African populations.