Utilization of Voluntary Counseling and Testing Services among University Students: A Case Study of Nairobi, Kenya

Wachira, Mary Njoki (2005) Utilization of Voluntary Counseling and Testing Services among University Students: A Case Study of Nairobi, Kenya. Masters thesis, Kenyatta University.

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Abstract

Since HIV/AIDS was detected in 1981, it has become a pandemic that is spreading rapidly irrespective of race, country, age group and socio-economic class. Globally, more than 7000 young people including university students acquire HIV/AIDS daily. This translates to 2.6 million new infections each year among the young people of which two million cases occur in Africa. In Kenya, the devastating disease is the single most important health challenge that the country has faced in post independence. To date, there is no cure for HIV/AIDS and therefore our hope lies in preventing new infections and helping to prolong the lives of those already infected. Infected individuals will constitute a .serious economic and social tragedy in the lives of surviving families, friends, employers as well as the country at large. In Kenya, studies on HIV/AIDS among the high risk groups such as commercial sex workers have been carried out. There is also paucity of research on HIV/AIDS addressing the youth out of school as well as those in secondary schools. However, little has been done to establish the rate of infection among university students as the well as the rate of utilization of VCT services. This study sought to determine the utilization of VCT services among university students. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was carried out among undergraduate students from both private and public universities in Nairobi and its periphery. The universities were conveniently selected due to their location. Probability proportion-to-size sampling was used to determine the number of undergraduate students to be sampled from each university. A sample of 400 undergraduate students was randomly selected from the four universities. The data was collected by the use of self-administered structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software. The findings 'of the study indicate that the student's knowledge of HIV/AIDS was high (93%). However the high knowledge level did not translate into high utilization of VCT. There was a significant relationship between the knowledge level of veT and the university of study (X2 =16.2564, df=3, p=0.001). However the relationship between the year of study and the knowledge level was not significant (X2 =2.3226,df=3, p=0.5080). Despite the fact that Ninety four percent (94%) of the students were aware of vital facts concerning HIV/AIDS and VCT, only forty five percent (45%) of the students indicated that they knew their sero status. There was no significant difference between the university of study and utilization of VeT (x2 =3.894, df=3, p=0.2731). The main barriers hindering utilization of VCT were stigmatization (51%) and fear of positive results (37%). The study recommends that both the government and non-governmental civil society actors need to invest more resources in mounting consistent campaigns encouraging and motivating students to visit VCT in order for them to know their serostatus and hence influence behaviour change. There is also need for enhanced public education through electronic and print media in order to empower students and youth at large with important information regarding VCTs in order to increase utilization. Further, the study recommends that there is need to establish accessible and youth friendly VCT centers within various universities as an entry point to care and prevention of HIV transmission.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Tim Khabala
Date Deposited:	13 Mar 2018 14:09
Last Modified:	13 Mar 2018 14:09
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/3506

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