Venkatalhm, R .( Prof.)Ayenew, Llkinaw2020-10-152023-11-102020-10-152023-11-102006-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/22769Vo/untmy counseling and testing (VeT) is potentially effective mechanism to prevent HIV infection and transmission by changing the knowledge and attitude of people. The main objective of the study was to examine the knowledge and attitude of people towards vo/unta!y counseling and testing for HIV. A cross-sectional survey aimed at assessing the knowledge and attitude of people towards voluntmy counseling and testing for HIV was made. Shashemene woreda in western Arsi Zone was selected purposely for this study. From the woreda two kebeles (four and six) were selected as a sampling unit. Data regarding knowledge and attitude was collected from 200 households available in the kebeles which were selected by using systematic random sampling method. The finding depicts that significant number of people had adequate knowledge and positive attitude towards voluntary counseling and testing for HIV. They are aware that voluntmy counseling and testing is a key element in HIV prevention and care and it assists people to make informed decisions about the test of HIV. Moreover, results showed that stigma and discrimination, wonying about the test result and unavai/ability of the service hinders the use of voluntmy counseling and testing. The t-test value revealed that there is no significant knowledge and attitude difference towards vo/untmy counseling and testing for HIV between subjects belonging to sex groups of male and female. On the other hand one-way ANOVA result shows a significant attitude difference observed among subjects based on their education level. As education level increases attitude also increases. It is concluded that the level of awareness regarding knowledge and attitude towards voluntm), counseling and testing for HIV seems too high on the study community. However, there are still different factors which prohibit people in order not to use voluntm), counseling and testing service. There fore, efforts should be made to change this high awareness to practice by redUCing or if possible by eliminating those factors that prohibit the use of voluntmy counseling and testing.enIERThesis