Prevalence and Correlates of Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Knowledge among Women Aged 15–49 Years in Pakistan: Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Knowledge among Women Aged 15–49 Years in Pakistan

Hira  Siddique; Saira  Abbas; Muhammad  Rizwan Safdar; Muhammad  Atif Ayoub; Mahnoor  Shahzad

doi:10.54393/pjhs.v3i05.163

Authors

Hira Siddique Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of The Punjab, Lahore
Saira Abbas Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of The Punjab, Lahore
Muhammad Rizwan Safdar Department of social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Muhammad Atif Ayoub Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of The Punjab, Lahore
Mahnoor Shahzad Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of The Punjab, Lahore

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54393/pjhs.v3i05.163

Keywords:

HIV/AIDS, comprehensive knowledge, HIV/AIDS knowledge in women, PDHS, Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan is ranked second among the countries in pacific Asia where the AIDS epidemic is spreading rapidly. Objectives: This study examines the comprehensive HIV/AIDS knowledge and measures the relationship between knowledge and socio-demographic characteristics of women aged 15-49 in Pakistan. Methods: It is based on secondary data analysis of the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-2018. Data were collected from 50,495 married women aged 15-49 through the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were applied to summarize the data while bivariate analysis was conducted to find out the correlations. Results: The study found that Pakistani women have a low level of knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS. Moreover, a significant relationship was found between comprehensive HIV/AIDS knowledge and wealth index as well as with the level of access to information. It shows that women from the richest households with moderate access to information had a high level of HIV/AIDS knowledge. Conclusions: Social stigmas regarding HIV/AIDS are rooted in Pakistani traditional society which is consequently the cause of the lack of knowledge regarding this epidemic among people in Pakistan

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