Abstract Book Vol. 2 [International Conference on AIDS (14th: 2002: Barcelona, Spain)]

XIV International AIDS Conference

Abstracts WePeD6337-WePeD6340 169

because of their educational role, but also as centre of communicative, and emotional relationships among students. The main objective is that of finding, in the
school's community, a group of students able to run the information and selfeducation role within the peer group. These students will start a series of activities
directly involving teenagers in the training process, in order to obtain a decrease
of problematic behaviour in the younger population.
Lessons learned: Phase 1: schools agreeing with the project:18;students involved in the introduction of the project: 2000; questionnaires on HIV-related information collected: 2000; student leaders agreeing to project: 500; peer education
self-selection: 200
Phase 2: Training 2 8-hour days per peer trainer group-Total training days: 36;Before/After questionnaire total: 400 Phase 3: Total of materiales 18 (videos, CDROMs, songs, Web sites, comic strips, theatre plays)
Recommendations: 1.Create a community within the school, willing to transform
the pilot project into a permanent training
2.Start information and formation centres within the schools, run by student leaders
3.Make sure that AIDS prevention is included in a wider health education context
Presenting author: Francesca Marchi, via delle Casine, 13, 500123, Firenze,
Italy, Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]
WePeD6337 Advances in sexual education for HIV/AIDS
prevention in the formal educational sector of
Honduras
B. Alvarez1, 0. Molina2, I. Guevara1, F. Valle3. 1Departamento ITS/SIDA/TB,
Departamento ITS/SIDA/TB, Secretaria de Salud Honduras, Barrio El Jazmin,
Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., Honduras; 2Departamento de Salud Mental, Tegucigalpa,
MDC, Honduras; 3ASDI/PAHO/WHO, Tegucigalpa, MDC, Honduras
Issues: since the first years of the epidemic (1985) one of the keystones to
face HIV/AIDS epdemic in Honduras was the incorporation of the formal educative sector in HIV/AIDS prevention educational activities. Throughout these
years there has been an active participation of students, teachers and parents
in HIV/AIDS prevention activities. With a successful interinstitutional cooperation,
sexual education has been sistematized and officialized. The sexual education
curricula has been widely validated and includes reproductive health topics and
HIV/STI prevention.
Lessons learned: political commitment has been critical to achieve cooperation
and working groups between the Secretaries of Health and Education. Sexual education and HIV/STI prevention with a gender approach has been incorporated
in the national curricula starting in third grade of primary schools. The National
Congress approved the national youth group in 1995, and every year more than
100,000 teenagers are national mobilized in HIV/STI prevention activities. Several information, communication and educational activities have been designed,
validated and reproduced.
Recommendations: in order to develop a national HIV/STI prevention approach
affecting the formal education sector it is important to have political commitment
from different sectors and institutions. It is also vital to create a national instance
where these proccesses could be monitored and evaluated.
Presenting author: Berta Alvarez, Departamento ITS/SIDA/TB, Secretaria de
Salud Honduras, Barrio El Jazmin, Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., Honduras, Tel.: +504
2374343, Fax: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]
WePeD6338 What do adolescents know about HIV and AIDS?
Pretest of a health education program
I. Martinez, J.L. Castro, M. Calvo, M. Cend.n, C. Isasi, C. Lage. Spanish Young
Red Cross, Parque, 14, 2~ izda, 15002, A Coruia, Spain
Background: Spanish Young Red Cross develops since 1993 a Health Education Program at educational centres financed by Spanish Department of Work
and Social Matters.
This program includes the following contents: drugs prevention, sexual education,
HIV-AIDS and eating disorders.
In the present study we analyse the pretest facts about HIV-AIDS.
Objective: To find the knowledge about HIV and AIDS among Secondary students.
Methods: Design: A basically descriptive crossover observation study.
Setting: Secondary schools in A Coruna, Spain.
Subjects: 162 students (13-18 years old) at 8 classrooms.
Measurement: A self-filled questionnaire was used.
Results: (1) 83% of the students are 13-16 years old. 57% are girls.
(2) Over 80% of the adolescents identify HIV action point with inmunitary system,
and know the posibility that a HIV carrier transmits the virus.
(3) 58% identify AIDS with risk groups.
(4) 62% of the students answer correctly the item about HIV detection test.
Conclusions: We detected good knowledge about HIV and AIDS, although, in

spite of preventive and informative campaigns, adolescents go on identifying
AIDS with risk groups.
At our health education interventions we must work this point to modify discriminatory attitudes, and increase the risk perception.
Presenting author: Iria Martinez, Parque, 14, 20 izda, 15002, A Coruha, Spain,
Tel.: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]

WePeD6339I Designing behavioural change strategies
addressed to teen-ggers and young adult workers
R. Rosales de Molinero1, P. Barriga2, J. Fernandez3. 1Secretaria de Trabajo,
PO Box 6443, Tegucigalpa, MDC, Honduras; 2SIDACOM Project, Tegucigalpa,
MDC, Honduras; 3SIDACOM, Tegucigalpa, MDC, Honduras
Issues: more than 70% of AIDS cases in Honduras are among the young population (15 and 40 years). Quantitative research has been the foundation for most
educational interventions and little results in actual behavior change have been
accomplished. Now, PETSIDAH (an educational program for workers) supported
by SIDACOM (European Union communications assistance) is developing a new
approach to behavior change in HIV/AIDS prevention. The methodology consists
in obtain a qualitative diagnosis of the segmented youth groups by age and socioeconomic status in the areas with higher concentration of workers. The questions asked in the ethnography were how? in which way? in which circumstances?
why? why not? Focus groups, in-depth interviews to key informants, and direct
behavior observation were the main techniques utilized. The main emphasis was
to explore the social and cultural determinants for the risk behaviors in six selected communities with high AIDS prevalence. The premise of the approach is
the strong belief that in order to obtain actual behavioral change, it is necessary to eliminate first the obstacles for the new desired behavior, and, second,
modify institutional behaviors so that the new individual behavior becomes sustainable.
Results: a) risk adolescent and young adult behaviors are mainly determined by
cultural factors, like machismo, girls not attending school and the supposed male
superiority; b) the population growth increased as the result of the child survival
strategies which have created a larger cohort of teen-agers, who otherwise would
have not survived; c) pressure for initiating in sexual activity does not come from
other teen-agers, but from adult relatives.
Lessons learned: behavior analysis allows to maximize the utilization of resources by selecting the most effective mechanisms for persuading youngsters
to adopt healthy behaviors; opening the discussion on sexuality issues creates
favorable conditions for changing behaviors.
Presenting author: Rudy Rosales de Molinero, PO Box 6443, Tegucigalpa,
MDC, Honduras, Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]
WePeD6340 Doctors' knowledge of the chosen HIV/AIDS
aspects and the problem of stereotypes
M. Ankiersztein, E. Przeclawska. National AIDS Centre, 1 Samsonowska str,
02-829 Warsaw, Poland
Background: The quality and scope of care of people living with HIV/AIDS and
prevention depend on actual behavior and attitude of people of different professions. From that point of view it was of particular importance to show the doctors'
attitude. The investigation revealed that doctors of specializations not directly related to the care of people living with HIV, i.e. having no obligatory training in
that area, have the attitude based on fear and the whole range of stereotypes.
Hence, it was of crucial importance to investigate doctors' knowledge of the chosen HIV/AIDS aspects. The work uses
- the qualitative survey
- the survey of knowledge of doctors attending trainings on the chosen aspects
of HIV/AIDS in 2001.
Dominating anxiety stereotypes on HIV/AIDS are strictly related to the small
knowledge of the chosen HIV/AIDS aspects
Methods: 1The qualitative survey applied the focus group interview (FGI) method
allowing to reveal emotional subconscious attitude, in three cities of different population number. The participants' selection included the criteria important due to
the assumptions of the investigation.
2The survey based on inquiry into the knowledge of the chosen HIV/AIDS aspects
shown by the doctors from all the regions who attended the trainings. Questionnaires were filled up by 300 trainings' participants.
Results: 1Generally, doctors attending the trainings have a low level of knowledge in all the investigated aspects.
2The epidemiological data are usually distorted.
3The younger are doctors, the higher is the level of knowledge.
4Surgeons chose the behaviors that were against the ethical norms but secured
their own safety.
Conclusions: Educational activities should be intensified for medical students as
well as doctors of various specializations. The education should embrace all three
levels:
- rational i.e. knowledge
- emotional i.e. stereotypes, anxiety, its source and consequences
- bahaviral i.e. training the proper conduct.
Presenting author: Marcin Ankiersztejn, 1 Samsonowska str., 02-829 Warsaw,
Poland, Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone], E-mail: international@aids.
gov.pl