ASSESSMENTOF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE TOWARDS VOLUNTARY HIV TESTING AND COUNSELING AMONG PREPARATORY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN WOLKITE TOWN GURAGE ZONE, SOUTH ETHIOPIA , JULY 2021

Abstract

Background: VCT is the process by which an individual undergoes counseling enabling him or her to make an informed choice about being tested for HIV. This decision must be entirely the choice of the individual and he or she must be assured that the process will be confidential. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) for HIV among Wolkite town preparatory school students in Gurage zone south Ethiopia Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in wolkite preparatory schools using systematic sampling technique from June to November (2021) . Self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was checked for completeness and accuracy, complied summarized and analyzed byusing SPSS 21, and results was presented by using graph and tables. Result: Among 326 successfully completed respondents, 156 (47.9%) were males and 170(52.1%) were females. From 326 respondents 218 students know that HIV testing is given with counseling 218(66.9%) and voluntarily 234(71.8%) . All of the students 326(100%) heard about VCT. Regarding to practice toward VCT majority of the respondents 187(57.1%) not used VCT service,where as the rest 139(42.9%) were use VCT. Conclusion: The finding of this study showed that all of students heard about VCT, but the attitude of voluntary test and counseling of HIV was very low among students of wolkite preparatory school. Recommendation: Wolkite town district health office in collaboration with zonal heath office should create continued effort to maximize voluntary counseling and testing utilization in preparatory school student