Abstract
Abstract This article is based on research undertaken on the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) campus between 15 and 19 October 2001, where, by means of bar coding, anonymous tests of HIV status were linked to a questionnaire survey. Of the 1,188 respondents, which comprised 8.1% of the university's ordinary post-graduate and undergraduate students (students studying on a contact basis only), 1.1% (n=l3) were found to be HIV positive. This figure is much lower than was expected on the basis of the University of Durban Westville (UDW) study and the South African Universities'Vice Chancellor Association's (SAUVCA) analysis of HIV within the university sector, as well as upon extrapolations from the Gauteng model, which was used to predict prevalence. This article attempts to account for this discrepancy between the expected and actual prevalence of respondents, by challenging the Gauteng model and drawing on reported sexual behaviour of students, particularly the level and nature of sexual activity, condom use, levels of sexually transmitted infections, knowledge of HIV/AIDS and peer pressure. Overall, these factors assist in explaining the actual prevalence found in the RAU study. The article, further, identifies additional social factors that should be considered in understanding infection rates for university students and provides some recommendations for future research.
Published Version
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