CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Aids means acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Aids are a medical diagnosis for a combination of illness which results from a specific weakness or damage of the immune system. The immune system defends the body against infection tumors, and disease. This immune deficiency is caused by a virus called Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) and such infected individuals have no prior history of immunology abnormality or nay other cause of immune suppression like chronic starvation, malnutrition, tuberculosis or malignancies. When HIV gets into the body system of its victim it continues to multiply and destroy the body immune system. Having damaged the immune system, HIV opens the body to many diseases and infections. Theses infections are called opportunistic disease” Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a deadly disease that was first diagnosed in June 1981 by some medical doctors in the United State of America it has since then, seen spreading all over the world at an exponential rate with about 33.4 million people now infected with HIV/AIDS world wide, and over 22 millions of such persons lives in Africa (the Nigeria Tribute 9thDecember 19998) and (UN report). However, the pathetic things about this HIV/AIDS are it has no cure for now. It is known as a pandemic outbreak because of its prevalence and occurrence at several places at the same time throughout the world. So far an estimated 22 million people have died of AIDS globally, and in 2000 alone 3 million deaths were recorded (Awake November 8th 2002) On account of this, AIDS is now tagged with such names as “The killer disease” “The silent killer,” “The scourge of our time,” “The new sensation,” “The plague from God,” “The king of STDS,” “The end of the road,” “no cure,” “exterminator” “no respect” to mention just a few. All these are used to qualify the destructive nature rate of occurrence and spread, prevalence, no class distinction and no curable characters of AIDS United nation (UN) report says that the disease revels the greatest epidemic of history.
Awareness means to know, to have knowledge of a thing. So AIDS/HIV awareness is to have knowledge of the body deadly disease. This study is focusing on youth knowledge of IHV/AIDS it causes, eects and the transmit ion. It sis a known fact that many people still do not believe that AIDS is a reality (these people have misconception on nature perception of HIV/AIDS vary from the assumption that one act of sexual intercourse with an infected persons cannot lead to infection, that they can recognize HIV positive persons by their appearance, that AIDS is a white man’s disease that nothing to do with the black that AIDS is a threat used by adults to deter young people from fornication and immorality, that AIDS can not adequately and completely be avoided because of very numerous ways of infection which that hold includes. Unsterile instrument with AIDS victims, and sexual intercourse with animals, some set of people believe that HIV/AIDS is a strategic fiction which white men have newly fabricated against the developing countries in particular so that they can sell their condoms, and at the same time control birth rates of developing countries through the adoration of using condom and abstinences from sexual intercourse.
