Influence of Knowledge Sharing in Reducing the Spread of HIV / AIDS among Adolescents in Rural Areas in Delta State , Nigeria

Abstract

“HIV/AIDS” constitutes one of the biggest threats to human kind and tackling this epidemic is of utmost importance. Over the years, repeated “HIV/AIDS” prevalence surveys in Nigeria have shown that the burden of this epidemic is more on adolescents and young people. Thus, this study investigates the influence of knowledge sharing in reducing the spread of “HIV/AIDS” among adolescents in rural areas. The survey research design was adopted for this study. Purposive sampling was used to select one hundred and five adolescents from Agadama secondary school and Ohoro grammar school both in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta state, Nigeria. The structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents out of which one hundred was found usable given a response rate of 95%, and descriptive statistical analysis was used to analyzed data. The findings revealed that, though there is an intermediate level of public awareness through the media, adolescents do not share information on “HIV/AIDS” as a result of inadequate information impeding the reduction of the spread of “HIV/AIDS” through knowledge sharing. Thus, it is recommended that there should be a high influx of information through the media; and other channels like peer education, class room learning, etc. exploited. Also, platforms for knowledge sharing should be created, monitored and encouraged using reward systems.