Sociobehavioural matrix and knowledge, attitude and practises regarding HIV/AIDS among female sex workers in an international border area of West Bengal, India.

BACKGROUND

HIV/AIDS is still a big public health challenge of India. Female Sex Workers (FSWs) belong to an important high risk group (HRG) in the transmission of HIV/AIDS. International borders have intermingling of population and also plenty of migrant population. Thus study on FSW s with relation to HIV/AIDS in an international border area is an important area of Research.

AIMS

The present study was planned with the objectives of: to determine the sociodemographic profile of the FSW under the study, to assess their knowledge and attitude towards HIV/AIDS and to find out their sexual practices.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN

It was a community based descriptive cross sectional study, done at the Indo-Bhutan border town of Jaigaon in Alipurduar District of West Bengal with the help of a Non-governmental organization (NGO) working on Targeted Interventions (TI) for FSW.

METHODS AND MATERIAL

Total 90 FSWs were interviewed using predesigned pretested questionnaire. The questionnaires used were prior validated by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED

The data were analysed by SPSS 14.0.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The analysis revealed that 35 % of the study population were illiterate. It was also found that 81% of respondents had heard about HIV/AIDS; 76.7% had knowledge about its spread through vaginal sex, 67.8% had idea regarding its Mother to Child transmission. 92% felt PLHIV should not be kept away from others, 93% felt they shouldn't be deprived from property. Regarding sexual activity, 76.7% had sexual activity more than 3 times/week and 97.8% used condom persistently in last one year. Coordinated Efforts is required to be taken in this regard to tackle these problems.