ABSTRACT
Background: Despite the tremendous efforts made to reduce the burden of HIV/AIDS in many countries, there are still gaps in the control of spread of HIV-infection in Nigeria, especially in the coastal areas due to inappropriate life style and preference for traditional care of people living with the disease. Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess the sexual attitudes and HIV/AIDS-healthcare seeking behaviours of people living in the fishing community of Okposo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of 600 people living in the fishing community, who were assessed for perceived sexual attitudes and HIV/AID-health care seeking behaviours, using Attitude and Sexual Behaviour Questionnaire. Results: Of the 600 participants, 339 (56.5%) were males and 261 (43.5%) females. Inspite of the increasing awareness of the existence of HIV/AIDS, sexual attitudes were variable and inimical to the fight against the disease; sexual urge was high; 27.7% males and 15.3% females had at least two or more sexual partners; 13.8% males and 10.8% females hardly used condom during sexual intercourse, while 15.5% males and 18.8% females would not undergo HIV testing. Perception on the cause and mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS were poor. Perceived efficacy, confidentiality, affordability and accessibility were reasons for choice of traditional care; about 61.0% of the participants would not attend to infected individuals because of fear of being infected with the virus. Conclusion: This study has shown that a lot still need to be done in Nigeria, especially in areas with difficult terrain to reverse the trend of HIV/AIDS. Massive enlightenment campaigns are necessary to serve as continuous efforts to increase and maintain high levels of motivation for lifestyle modification.
ABSTRACT
Background. The burden of mental illness is particularly severe for people living in low-income countries. Negative attitudes towards the mentally ill; stigma experiences and discrimination constitute part of this disease burden.Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate knowledge of possible causes of mental illness and attitudes towards the mentally ill in a Nigerian university teaching hospital population.Method. A cross-sectional descriptive study of a convenience sample of 208 participants from the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital; Uyo; Nigeria; using the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) scale. Information was also obtained on beliefs about possible causes of mental illness.Results. The respondents held strongly negative views about the mentally ill; mostly being authoritarian and restrictive in their attitudes and placing emphasis on custodial care. Even though the respondents appeared to be knowledgeable about the possible role of psychosocial and genetic factors in the causation of mental illness; 52.0 of them believed that witches could be responsible; 44.2 thought mental illness could be due to possession by demons; and close to one-third (30) felt that it could be a consequence of divine punishment.Conclusions. Stigma and discrimination against the mentally ill are widespread even in a population that is expected to be enlightened. The widespread belief in supernatural causation is likely to add to the difficulties of designing an effective antistigma psycho-educational programme. There is a need in Nigeria to develop strategies to change stigma attached to mental illness at both institutional and community levels