Abstract:
A study to assess community attitudes towards HIV/AIDS prevention was conducted in Morogoro municipality, Tanzania, between November 2007 and January 2008. A total of 100 randomly selected households were included in this study, located in five wards randomly selected from the 19 wards of the municipality. Data were collected using questionnaire interviews and focus group discussions (the latter conducted in a different subpopulation). Data were analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 11.5, whereby eigenvalues for key statements were computed following data reduction/ Principal Component Analysis. The study revealed high knowledge of the community on HIV/AIDS. The community had positive attitudes towards HIV/AIDS preventive measures except the use of condoms. Factors that hindered the use of HIV/AIDS preventive measures included alcoholism,
low knowledge on some preventive measures e.g. the use of condoms, economic factors, drug abuse, marital status, religion and emotional factors. The study recommends promotion of HIV/AIDS control strategies that are accepted by the community. Further studies are needed to assess whether the accepted strategies are implemented by the community.
