Impact and Behavioral Assessment of HIV/Aids in Addis Ababa Police Force

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Date

2004-04

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Publisher

Addis Abeba Universty

Abstract

HIV infection is the "first wave" of the pandemic and AIDS morbidity and mortality is the "second wave". Economic, social and governance impact is the "third wave". This wave is amenable to a wide range of different responses. Understanding and quantifying the impact of HIV/AIDS is a key component of strategic thinking. The objective of this study is to assess the HIV/AIDS impacts and related behavioral factors in the Addis Ababa police force; and it used a cross sectional survey to achieve the above mentioned objective. HIV/AIDS related cause of death contributed three quarters of officers' death, and HIV positive or probable HIV infected patients were using the medical service more frequently and at great cost than other officers. Twenty seven percent of officers had multiple sexual partners in the last 12 months, while 107 (33.4%) officers had been engaged in risky sexual intercourse in the last 12 months. Based on the findings it is concluded that HIV/AIDS is a major cause of death and is set to become an expensive health service burden; and still Police Officers are highly vulnerable to the epidemic but feeling falsely safe. Educational activities on risk of HIV/AIDS, STDs and condom use with benefit of voluntary counselling and testing are recommended.

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Keywords

HIV/AIDS, Police force/officers, Impact, Behavioral assessment

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