Determinants of effectiveness of sex, HIV/AIDs awareness campaigns on sexual behaviour change among school going youths in secondary schools in Bamburi division, Mombasa county, Kenya

Abstract

The global HIV and AIDS epidemic has had the greatest impact at human level and heavily affects the economic development of most countries, many of which are already strained for resources, have tremendous weight on health systems and loss of productive workforce. The young adults are living in the world of AIDS and therefore stopping HIV requires comprehensive strategies and effective campaign awareness that focus on the youth by providing comprehensive knowledge and facts about the disease so as to enhance positive sexual behavior change.

The main objective of this study was therefore to investigate the determinants of effectiveness of sex and HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns on sexual behavior change among the school going youths in Bamburi Division, Mombasa County .Related literature review was done on the independent variables that included adequate HIV / AIDS awareness campaigns, the sources of HIV / AIDS information, the role of family communications on HIV awareness campaigns and Peer influence on Youths sexual behaviour. The research employed descriptive survey design and both quantitative and qualitative data was collected, data collection instruments were students' questionnaire, key in-depth interviews and focus group discussions.

The quantitative data from the study was coded and entered into a computer for analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Chi-square was used to test hypothesis and other information from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions was content analyzed using qualitative method. The study findings revealed a great success of HIV / AIDS awareness campaigns in terms of creating awareness, that awareness levels on HIV and AIDs for the school going adolescents was high on almost all the indicators tested on HIV / AIDS infection and prevention. However even with high awareness, the trend showed that the youth still had problems of putting what they were aware of into practice and therefore majority of them are still indulging in sexual risk-taking behaviour that expose them to the risks of contracting HIV/AIDS.

A clear indication that all these high awareness has not led to any remarkable sexual behaviour change, the most effective source of HIV / AIDS information in this study was mass media followed closely by teachers and friends, Family role in socializing the youth and communication on sex, HIV / AIDS played had a minimal impact in changing behaviour while there was clear evidence that the youths were more free to discussing sex and HIV related issues with their peers than they do with parents. Recommendations of the study include; intensive use of mass media and schools to create more awareness among the youths, engage family members in the campaigns against HIV and promoting youth centred campaign strategies and activities which translates to positive sexual behavior change.