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Red Ribbon Express (RRE) project is developed by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), NACO and NYKS...

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  Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan
Nyks role in campaign

The NYKS is the largest grassroots level  organization of its kind in the world with the mandate..more
 
 
Baseline Survey:

Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports conducted a massive survey operation to discover & expose the level of awareness of HIV/AIDS amid rural population of India. The purpose of Survey is to learn the awareness level of HIV/AIDS before the awareness generation program, named Red Ribbon Express, which is a project conceptualized by RGF, funded & technically supported by NACO and chiefly implemented by NYKS. The computerized data was analyzed using SPSS software.

The data comprises of responses from more than 35,000 respondents spread over 23 states and union territories. The survey was done across the villages of the proposed 180 halt stations of RRE. In each district 20 villages were chosen for the survey, which was taken from the list of 80 villages surrounding a RRE halt/district.

In each 20 village- 10 people were surveyed with a 50% Male vs. Female ratio.
Analysis:


Sample Characteristics:
Six aspects of sample characteristics were included in the questionnaire and the data was analysed for these. The Six were:-
a. Geographical location
b. Gender
c. Age
d. Education
e. Occupation and
f. Marital status.
These aspects have their bearing on the understanding and perception of the sampled population.
Respondents Awareness of AIDS/HIV Related Issues

In all, excluding the independent variable or the questions related to sample characteristics described in the preceding paragraphs, the structured questionnaire administered to the respondents contained 34 questions.These 34 queries related to HIV/AIDS can be divided into six categories:
General information on HIV/AIDS (3 questions)
Transmission (7 questions)
Prevention/ cure of HIV/AIDS infection (7 questions)
Resistance to and risks involved (4 questions)
Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) (3 questions)
Detection / test for HIV/AIDS infection (3 questions) and
Attitude towards HIV/AIDS and participation in campaigns against HIV/AIDS (7 questions)
 
It should be noted that quite a few of the respondents were from rural background and did not have access to modern electronic media and substantial number was illiterate as well. In response to the question have you heard of HIV/AIDS an over whelming percentage of close 90 percent said that they have, not only shows the success of campaigns undertaken during the last few decades, it also reveals that the ordinary Indian citizens talk about HIV/AIDS and pass on the information to other through interpersonal modes. It is quite surprising and frightening that about 60 percent of all those who were interviewed had heard of at least one HIV positive person. Such large percentage indicates that if a person is detected positive the news spreads far and wide and does not remain secret any more. This also shows that the interpersonal channels of communication are quite sensitive information related to HIV/AIDS. However even more alarming was the answer by more than a quarter of all the sample population that they have met or seen an infected person.

Some of the issues covered by the survey study were related to attitudes towards and perceptions of transmission of AIDS / HIV. Others were related to notions that prevail in society but have no scientific basis. Even though it has been much publicized through media and other channels that there can be no infection through touch, the social stigma associated with AIDS / HIV is such that an infected person is not accepted in the society easily. One query was included in the questionnaire to probe the public perception, on whether HIV can be acquired by shaking hands with an infected person.

Curiously, the analysis revealed that the responses that AIDS / HIV spreads by shaking hands was by no means dependent upon independent variables selected for the study. The reason for this strong myth could be attributed to the age-old practice of untouchability. Since every human being that is considered dirty is perceived by a common citizen as untouchable it is but natural that a patient who has acquired such a deadly disease should be considered as not only untouchable but also an outcaste. Even the doctors in the country are not free from this attitudinal prejudice.
 
The Survey Report- HIV/AIDS: Public Understanding and Attitude