Impact of workshops on Themes of World AIDS Days.
BACKGROUND
Abbottonians Medical Association, Abbottabad, Pakistan in collaboration with UNAIDS Pakistan arranged two Workshops, the first in 1999, the Theme of which was "Listen, Learn, Live", and the second in the year 2000 with "Men Make Difference" as the Theme. The aim of these workshops was to create awareness amongst the participants regarding HIV/AIDS.


OBJECTIVE
We used the data of the above-mentioned workshops to analyze the gain in knowledge and attitudes of the participants, with an idea to develop recommendations for the use of such workshops for increasing the awareness regarding HIV/AIDS.


METHODS
The data of the two above-mentioned workshops were used to assess the percentage gain in knowledge and attitudes of the participants. We also compared our results with the contemporary studies and developed our recommendations.


RESULTS
The results show highly significant (p < .001) increase in the HIV/AIDS related knowledge and attitudes in the participants of these workshops. This difference was more significant in the teachers as compared to the students, showing a higher level of awareness in the youngsters. The net gain in the knowledge was very significant. The knowledge about HIV spread increased by 28.96% for the students and 19.54% for the teachers, while the net gain in attitudes was 36.16% for the students and 71.43% in the teachers.


CONCLUSIONS
Short workshops on the Themes of World AIDS Days are very beneficial for improvement in the level of awareness for HIV/AIDS prevention and control.
Saeed
A K
AK
Department of Medicine, Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Siddiqui
N
N
Inayat
A
A
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires