Condom Use and the Accuracy of AIDS knowledge Essay Example For Students

Condom Use and the Accuracy of AIDS knowledge Essay Across Africa, the HIV virus has spreaded mostly through sexual intercourse. The healthcare professionals and researchers are trying to find out if people are most likely to take precaution in protecting themselves from the virus by using condoms. Their main focus was in the southern and eastern parts of Africa, where 1 in 4 adults are HIV positive. A Demographic and Health Survey was done in 1994 and revealed that 92% of men and 80% of women were able to mention at least one method that HIV is contracted; through sexual transmission. However, only 23% of the men and 7% of women indicated that they use condoms. Many AIDS Awareness and family planning programs promote the use of condoms as being a major source of protection, however there were negative attitudes that came about when it was mentioned. Many of the Africans have suggested that condoms are a sign of unfaithfulness and mistrust. And for the men who agree with the use of the condom, availability was a problem. African men have majority of the control in decision making with regards to sexual encounters. An example was used from the men of Zimbabwe, they expressed the belief that women need their partners permission to use contraceptives(Zellner,2003). Because of this man power of females, women tend to be placed in situations where they increase their risk of sexual transmitted diseases including HIV. Another study was done with men who were truck drivers. The researchers found that 72% of married men had multiple sex partners and 60% were unwilling to use condoms because they did not like the way they felt and were unaware of the risk of unprotected sex. Condoms are not the most common method of contraception for women. Several of the men also have interactions with sex workers. With almost 70% of sex workers carrying HIV, the men have sex with those who do not insist on using condoms. Among secondary and college students, the persons with good knowledge of how HIV is transmitted were not using condoms, compared to those adults who had poor knowledge of HIV transmission. Method: This article is based on a 1994 Demographic and Health Survey of 5,653 partcipants, (4,429 women and 1,224 men). It was analyzed for respondents who had sex in the two months before the survey. Theoretical Connection: The author was interested in finding out whether the accuracy of men and womens knowledge about AIDS predicted condom use in their most recent sexual interaction. Her hypothesis was that having more accurate knowledge about how HIV is transmitted would be associated with a greater likelihood of having used a condom at last sex. Findings Author Sara Zellner found that the accuracy of knowledge about AIDS did not significantly predict condom use. For the males the odds of using condoms was low among men 35 and older, compared to the 15-19 year olds. The odds were also low for married men. Men with secondary or higher education were most likely to use condoms compared to uneducated men. Women 25 and older had lower odds of usibg condoms at their last intercourse than women ages 15-19. Odds were low for married women, however they were high for women with secondary or higher education compared to the uneducated. I was surprised to find out that men over 30 were least likely to use condoms. I just assumed that older men were more responsible at taking precaution in protecting themselves.