Purpose: The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS amongst African
youths has been a major problem in recent times, particularly
in Nigeria where over 5% of the population is at risk of the
disease. We undertook to assess HIV/AIDS related knowledge
and sexual behaviour among secondary school students
in Benin City.
Methods: In a cross-sectional study using a 59-item selfadministered
questionnaire, a survey was carried out among
1917 students (48.7% male and 51.3% female; age: 11-24
years) systematically selected from 13 secondary schools in
Benin City to assess HIV/AID related knowledge and sexual
behaviour.
Results: Awareness of HIV/AIDS was high. Misconceptions
about the cause and spread was very high (91.4% and
93.1% of respondents, respectively). The knowledge on prevention
was poor as only 40.4% of the respondents knew
how to avoid contacting HIV/AIDS. While 9.1% of the students
indicated ever having sex (with 67.4% of them using
condom before sex), only 2.4% engaged in commercial sex.
Some of the males (4.2%) are homosexuals. As many as
5.8% of the youths (and 12.4% of those who had done HIV
test in the preceding 12 months) were HIV positive.
Conclusion: Despite the various educational efforts to address
the problems of HIV/AIDS, the knowledge of secondary
school students in Benin City is still poor and the adolescents
still engage in risky behavours. This calls for educational intervention
that will impact in-depth knowledge about HIV/
AIDS among the youths who are at the center of HIV/AIDS
pandemic