Prevention of HIV/AIDS

The effectiveness of school based interventions in preventing Human immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) among teenagers aged 13-18 years in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

[Name of the Institute]The effectiveness of school based interventions in preventing Human immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) among teenagers aged 13-18 years in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

Objective

The main aim of this research is to evaluate whether school based interventions in preventing HIV/AIDS among teenagers in sub-Saharan Africa is an effective form of intervention or not.

Introduction

Sub-Saharan Africa is the most severely impacted region across the globe from the epidemic of preventing Human immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). People under the age of 25 are mostly affected by HIV/AIDS in the sub-Sahara African region. Young people are more vulnerable to these epidemics due to several factors such as their lack of knowledge regarding the prevention and transmission of disease, early sexual debut, poorly-formed life skills and other such factors. Efforts should be made to guide the youth in the right direction. Efforts that are school-based remain a common and poplar method of delivering intervention programs related to behaviour. This is due to the reason that schools represent a significant setting for reaching large number of young people. School based interventions are promising and logical means of imparting important skills and information on the subject to young people who are school-going.

Background

HIV and AIDS have reached epidemic proportions in majority of the regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Joint United Nations Program published a report in 2006 on HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the report, by the end of the 20th century, around 21 million people got infected with HIV/AIDS in Africa (Ebhohimhen, 2008, p. 2). Most of the affected people were under the age of 25 years. Across the globe, 80% of the total cases of AIDS occur in the people aged between 15 and 24. Three-fourth of this total 80% lives in sub-Saharan Africa. This shows that adolescents make up majority of the vulnerable age groups for infection of HIV/AIDS.

Targeting the right people at the right time in early stages of the epidemic has been recognized as the main strategy for prevention of HIV/AIDS. As a result, in sub-Saharan Africa, where youth constitutes the major portion infected with the epidemic, the role of interventions that are youth specific aimed at prevention of HIV/AIDS cannot be overrated. Due to these facts, several school based intervention programs for prevention of HIV/AIDS have been implemented in the region as an effective strategy within the young people. The school intervention programs are assumed to be effective due to two main reasons. One of the reasons is that these programs target the correct group of population. Secondly, today's youth perceives school based interventions as credible. Therefore, school based interventions can play an enormous role in change attitudes, knowledge, and sexual behaviour of youth regarding prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Literature Review

There exists research that evaluates the effectiveness of school based interventions in prevention of HIV/AIDS among teenagers in sub-Saharan Africa (Jamison ...