HIV and AIDS education - Health - Wellness

HIV and AIDS education can be effective when targeted at specific groups who are particularly at risk of HIV infection. The groups that HIV and AIDS education needs to target vary depending on the nature of the epidemic in an area. High risk groups can also change over time. For example, in the early years of the AIDS epidemic in America, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users were most at risk of HIV infection. Today, heterosexual African Americans and the Hispanic/Latino population are also identified as groups particularly vulnerable to HIV infection in America.

AIDS affects many parts of society, and so everyone needs to be aware of HIV and AIDS.

However, it is important that such a focus does not lead to groups who are considered not at risk missing out on HIV and AIDS education. This can lead to a rise in HIV infection rates amongst groups who are often neglected by HIV and AIDS education, for example older people.5 Furthermore, AIDS affects many parts of society, and so everyone needs to be aware of HIV and AIDS. Providing the general population with basic AIDS education contributes to the spread of accurate information; promoting awareness and tackling stigma and discrimination.

It is also important that people who are already infected with HIV receive HIV and AIDS education. This can help people to live positively without passing on the virus to anyone else; to prevent themselves becoming infected with a different strain of the virus; and to ensure a good quality of life by informing them about medication and the support that is available to them.

HIV and AIDS education can take place in many different environments, from classes at school to families and friends sharing knowledge at home. It is important that this education is provided in a variety of settings to ensure that the most vulnerable and marginalised groups in society are reached, and that accurate information about HIV and AIDS is reinforced from different sources.

The most common place for people to learn about HIV and AIDS is at school. Due to their capacity and universality, schools are a crucial setting for educating young people about AIDS.8 As young people are at a high risk of becoming infected with HIV, it is vital that they are educated about HIV transmission before they are exposed to situations that put them at risk of HIV infection (for example, before they are sexually active). Schools play a major role in shaping the attitudes, opinions and behaviour of young people and so are ideal environments for teaching the social as well as the biological aspects of HIV and AIDS.

Members of the wider community can also increase their knowledge about HIV and AIDS through the school environment. Teachers who expand their understanding of the subject while planning lessons and receiving teacher training can pass this information on to adults as well as pupils, and the same can be said for children themselves; once informed about AIDS, they can tell their parents or their friends what they have learned.