Unwed mothers’ awareness about hiv/ aids

HIV/AIDS has been affected very first in whole over the World. It also killing the million of people in large. It create threat to patient into death. World wide, 39.4 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. In India, the number of HIV positive cases has risen to 5.3 million, and it is rising consistently. Women due to their vulnerability are facing the greatest challenge of handling this menace. HIV can also be transmitted through mother-to-child or through breast feeding to the infant was known to nearly fifty percent of the respondents. Media played an important role in creating awareness about this deadly menace. NGO’s too can play an important role in counseling unwed mothers to start antiretroviral therapy and create awareness about AIDS and its consequences in different sections of the society. Ever since the first case of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) was reported in India (1986), the number of HIV positive cases has been on the increase. Currently, the number of persons in the grip of HIV/AIDS has risen to 5.3 million. Worldwide, 39.4 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and of these, 8.2 million are in the Asian region. Women all over the world are facing the greatest challenge of handling this menace because of their greater vulnerability. Preventive measures including health education seem to be the only means to put a halt to HIV transmission. A decade ago, it was recommended that all health care professionals should counsel the pregnant women about HIV and to encourage testing HIV, and if indicated, initiate Zidovudine therapy. Pregnant women are at risk of not only acquiring the disease but also transmitting it to their infants. Keeping this background in mind, study was had undertaken to assess unwed mothers’ awareness about HIV/AIDS. For this purpose, respondents were selected from urban and rural areas of Chandigarh. The focus was on this group because at this stage, women are more receptive to health-related matters and their role in caring and rearing of family also acquires importance. HIV can be transmitted mainly through three routes, namely, sex, blood and blood products, and mother to child. Data were gathered specifically, from those respondents who had heard about AIDS, regarding their awareness about the routes of HIV transmission. The findings showed that nearly ninety percent of these respondents were aware of the sexual route of HIV transmission. A significant relationship was also found in relation to their background and their awareness about the sexual route of transmission. Similarly, a significant relationship was found in regard to their awareness about transmission of HIV through blood and blood products. As mentioned earlier, mother-to-child transmission of HIV is responsible for 5 to 10percent of the total cases. The findings in this regard showed no significant relationship between mothers’ background and their awareness about this route of HIV transmission. That HIV can be transmitted through breast-feeding was known nearly to50.6 percent of the respondents. On the positive side, a majority of the respondents were found to be aware of the fact that HIV cannot be transmitted either through sharing of personal items(undergarments, utensils) or (kissing or hugging) yet, there were some who had misconceptions about the transmission of HIV through mosquito bites, coughing or sneezing. Walia, I.,( July 2005),