A questionnaire survey was carried out among 1041 students in secondary schools and colleges in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania to evaluate the relationship between HIV-risky sexual behaviour and anti-condom bias, as well as with AIDS-related information, knowledge, perceptions and attitudes. Self-reportedly, 54% of students (75% of the boys and 40% of the girls) were sexually active, 39% had a regular sexual partner and 13% had multiple partners in the previous year. The condom use rate was higher than previous reports. However, 30% of sexually active respondents did not always use condoms (Risk-1 behaviour) and 35% of those with multiple partners in the previous year did not always use condoms (Risk-2 behaviour). Multiple logistic regression analyses indicated that 'sex partner hates condom' had association with both Risk-1 behaviour (OR 2.47; 95% CI 1.58-3.85) and Risk-2 behaviour (OR 2.47; 95% CI 1.10-5.48). 'Use of condom prevents HIV infection' also had association with both Risk-1 behaviour (OR 2.09; 95% CI 1.19-3.67) and Risk-2 behaviour (OR 3.73; 95% CI 1.28-11.03). Students engaging in risky behaviour were aware of the risk, even though they failed to change their behaviour. Reasons for the AIDS epidemic among Tanzanian students and the importance of more effective AIDS education are also discussed.
PIP: Tanzania has reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) the largest number of AIDS cases of any country in Africa. As of the end of November 1996, 82,174 AIDS cases had been officially reported to WHO, although the Tanzanian Ministry of Health estimated that about 400,000 people in Tanzania had AIDS at the end of 1995. 419 male and 622 female students aged 16-24 years in secondary schools and colleges in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, answered questionnaires during March-April 1996 in a study conducted to evaluate the relationship between HIV risky sexual behavior and anti-condom attitudes, as well as with AIDS-related information, knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes. Self-reportedly, 75% of the boys and 40% of the girls were sexually active, 54% of the sample overall. 39% had a regular sex partner and 13% had multiple partners in the previous year. 30% of the sexually active respondents and 35% of those with multiple sex partners did not always use condoms when having sex. Multiple regression analysis found that the belief that a sex partner hates condoms was positively associated with inconsistent condom use. Belief in the use of a condom to prevent HIV infection was also associated with inconsistent use. While these students were aware of their risk in having unprotected sexual intercourse, they failed to adopt risk reduction behavior.