Understanding the Impact of HIV-AIDS Awareness Classes on Secondary School Students' Knowledge and Perceptions

Despite being an area of long-term commitment of research agencies, the epidemic continues to provide significant public health challenges, particularly among adolescents. These groups often face barriers due to stigma and misconceptions. This study investigated whether a structured HIV/AIDS awareness educational program would improve the knowledge and attitudes of 95 higher secondary students. Students' knowledge and attitudes were assessed using a pre-test/post-test design by giving them a questionnaire before and after the educational session. Students demonstrated significantly improved core knowledge after completing the intervention, including the full name of AIDS, an understanding of HIV as the causative agent, an understanding of the modes of transmission of HIV, and a reduction in misconceptions regarding casual contact transmission. Furthermore, students' awareness of prevention strategies significantly increased. The mean awareness score increased significantly from 22.78 ± 3.275 to 24.05 ± 3.502 (p = 0.001) for a small-to-moderate effect size (Cohen's d = 0.36). Additionally, although there were positive improvements in attitudes and willingness to discuss HIV/AIDS, some misconceptions regarding the curability of HIV and the importance of regular testing remained. Based on the findings, this study supports the notion that school-directed, educated interventions to combat HIV/AIDS are effective public health tools to enhance adolescents' knowledge, dispel myths related to HIV/AIDS, and promote positive attitudes toward adolescents.