Abstract:

Background: HIV/AIDS is a disease of global interest without a cure. It affects all persons of all age, including adolescents. This study aimed at increasing the knowledge of HIV/AIDS among secondary school students in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was adopted. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 97 participants from two secondary schools. Data were collected using an adapted HIV Knowledge Questionnaire (HIV-K-Q), and was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics (t-test) at 0.05 level of significance. Results: The pre-intervention knowledge on HIV/AIDS mean scores were 11.07 ± 1.60 and 10.90 ± 1.93 in the experimental and control groups, respectively. Whereas the post-intervention mean scores were 18.12 ± 1.55 and 10.57 ± 1.96 in the experimental and control groups, respectively. The main finding revealed that there was significant difference in the post-intervention knowledge on HIV/AIDS mean score between the intervention and control groups (p=0.000). Conclusion: The educational intervention had positive effect on the students’ knowledge about HIV/AIDS; hence, we recommend that HIV/AIDS education be included in secondary schools’ curriculum.