Women and the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: The Issue of School Age Girls’ Awareness in Nigeria

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine women and the HIV/AIDS epidemic: the issue of school age girls’ awareness in Nigeria information was elicited from 1,222 randomly selected regular under-graduate female students from the 11 faculties of the University of Lagos, Nigeria, with the use of a standardized structured questionnaire. Results of the major objective of the study, that is the level of HIV/AIDS awareness among female undergraduate students, showed a moderate level of awareness, including other specific objectives of age, level of study and marital status. In contrast, at the graduate level—the 600 level of study—medical students showed a high degree of awareness, and it was only divorce as a sub-variable of marital status that showed a low level of awareness. The paper then made some recommendations, that what is needed in Nigeria is to address the cultural, biological and socio-economic conditions contributing to women greater vulnerability to HIV/AIDS epidemic.