Knowledge and discriminatory attitudes towards HIV/AIDS among the women of reproductive age group of Pakistan using the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS)

Background

Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) has become a major worldwide public health issue, with a focus on developing nations. Despite having a very low HIV prevalence, South Asia faces serious issues with stigma and false information because of a lack of awareness. This stigma highlights significant gaps in popular awareness while also sustaining unfavorable attitudes towards those living with HIV/AIDS. Pakistan is ranked second in South Asia for the rapidly increasing AIDS epidemic. Thorough information and optimistic outlooks are essential for successful HIV/AIDS prevention, control, and treatment. But false beliefs about how HIV/AIDS spreads lead to negative perceptions, which highlights the need to look into how women’s knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS in Pakistan are influenced by sociodemographic traits and autonomy.

Methods

The purpose of this study is to evaluate Pakistani women’s discriminatory attitudes and level of awareness on HIV/AIDS. This study used data (the women in reproductive age 15‒49 years’ dataset) from the Pakistan Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey to conduct an analytical cross-sectional analysis. To represent the respondents’ attitudes and knowledge towards people living with HIV (PLHIV), two composite variables were developed and composite scored. Binary logistics regression was used to identify predictor variables and chi-square was used for bivariate analysis.

Results

The findings reveal that almost 90% of Pakistani women have poor knowledge and attitude with HIV/AIDS. In Punjab, 72.8% of rural residents have low knowledge, whereas only 20.6% of young individuals (15–< 25 years old) show the least amount of ignorance. Education is shown to be crucial, and “Higher” education is associated with superior knowledge. Urban dwellers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa typically have more expertise. Knowledge of HIV is positively correlated with education; those with higher education levels know a lot more (odds ratio [OR] = 5.419). Similarly, quintiles with greater incomes show a higher likelihood of knowing about HIV (OR = 6.745). The study identifies age, wealth index, place of residence, educational attainment, and exposure to contemporary media as significant predictors influencing HIV knowledge and attitudes among women in these provinces.

Conclusion

The majority of respondents had negative opinions regarding the virus, and the majority of women in the study knew very little about HIV. Individuals who live in metropolitan areas, have higher incomes, are better educated, are exposed to contemporary media, and are generally more aware of HIV and have more positive attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, or PLHIV. The study found that, in comparison to those living in urban environments, those from rural areas with low socioeconomic level have a negative attitude and inadequate understanding.