Investigation on AIDS knowledge among rural residents in Anhui province

Objective To identify AIDS knowledge level and risk factors among rural residents in AIDS project areas to assess the impact of the AIDS project in the last 2 years and provide baseline for the future 3 years′ project activities.Methods Using stratified cluster sampling technique,rural residents aged 15～49 years old in eight China CARES/Global Fund AIDS Project counties were recruited to participate in a face-to-face interview with a structure questionnaire.Results Among 1 687 rural residents,the average score of AIDS knowledge was 8.1.People living in hard-hit townships were more likely to have higher score than people in non-hard-hit townships(8.7 vs.7.3,χ2=12.7,P0.001).The rate of knowing voluntary blood donation was 49.0% and the rate of using voluntary counseling and test(VCT) service was 19.7%.All the indicators were better in hard-hit townships than in non-hard-hit areas.Conclusion The level of AIDS knowledge was high in AIDS project areas in Anhui and reached goal set by the AIDS porject and National AIDS Plan.However,the awareness rates of voluntary blood donation and AIDS voluntary counseling and testing(VCT) were low and rural residents were lack of some points of AIDS facts.Comprehensive measures should be taken to raise the awareness of AIDS,voluntary blood donation and VCT.