RESUMEN
The knowledge and attitudes of healthcare workers regarding HIV infection are important factors influencing the readiness of people living with HIV to access care, and the quality of the care they receive. In addition to factors such as stigma and bias, how healthcare workers perceive their own risks in relation to caring for HIV-positive patients may potentially influence their willingness to provide care and their attitudes towards HIV-infected patients. In Afghanistan, there is a lack of information on the prevalence of HIV in general population. The country, however, has many risk factors that could facilitate HIV transmission. To assess HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, and risk perception amongst healthcare workers in Afghanistan national and regional hospitals. A cross-sectional survey among healthcare workers was conducted in five large hospitals selected in Afghanistan. Approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of the Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan and interviews were voluntary. Data analysis was conducted using STATA 11.0 to calculate frequencies and to perform cross-tabulation and logistic regressions with adjusted odd ratio and 95% confidence interval in order to detect statistical significance on differences in knowledge and attitude among healthcare workers in the targeted hospitals. Among 741 healthcare workers who participated in the study, 34.4% [255] correctly identified all correct modes of HIV transmission and 32.1% [238] correctly identified all incorrect modes of HIV transmission. Only 10.4% [77] correctly identified both correct and incorrect modes of HIV transmission. Nurses 12.3% [27] were most knowledgeable by correctly identifying all correct and incorrect modes of HIV transmission. The majority of healthcare workers expressed a willingness to care for people living with HIV. While 88% of healthcare workers believed that it is necessary to take extra infection precautions for people living with HIV, 76% presumed that people living with HIV should be nursed separately from other patients. Nearly 2 of every 3 Afghan healthcare workers in this sample lacked basic knowledge about the routes of transmission of HIV. These findings provide support for both improving the education of current healthcare workers, and integrating teaching modules that include the topics of disease transmission, clinical care, and universal precautions into curricula of health educational institutions