Socio-Economic and Cultural Practices affecting the Spread of HIV/AIDS in Abia State, Nigeria

摘要

The study investigated some socio-cultural factors affecting the spread of HIV/AIDs in Abia State, Nigeria. Upon all the efforts of Nigeria government in the control of the epidemic through multi-sectoral approaches, the HIV/AIDs prevalence rate is still very high. The study therefore tried to investigate some of the socio-cultural practices that can cause the spread of the epidemic. One hundred and twenty respondents were purposively selected from Abia central because they met the criteria stipulated for the study. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used in the selection of the sample size. In the first stage, 6 communities were randomly chosen, followed by a random selection of two villages and 10 households from each village, bringing the total to 120 respondents. Both primary and secondary data were used to source for relevant information and subsequently analyzed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated some socio-cultural practices that aid in the spread of HIV/AIDS. These include spouse inheritance, female genital mutilation, polygamy, circumcision, tribal mark incision and bride wealth with the following mean score 2.7, 2.65, 2.45, 2.60 and 3.32 respectively. Though a lot of effort has gone into eradicating some of the negative practices, there are strong indications that these practices are still going on among communities and families. The study therefore recommends that, as a cross-cutting intervention, more information will be required, using a combination of both interpersonal and other forms of communication, with messages specifically highlighting the relationship between each of the traditions affecting the spread of HIV/AIDS epidemic in the area.