Views and attitudes towards HIV voluntary testing among adolescents: Evidence from Burkina Faso

Guiella Georges, Université de Montréal

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is one of the most important and urgent public health challenges facing developing nations. Even though it affects all the social sectors of the population, the epidemic among adolescents is the fastest growing partly because of low use of preventive services. Using a nationally-representative data from a survey carried out in 2004 this paper aims to assess the present level of knowledge, views and attitudes towards VCT among adolescents of 12-19 years old in Burkina Faso. Results showed that 37% of boys and 43% of girls don’t know about VCT. Among those who know about VCT, 69% of girls and 74% of boys know where they can obtain VCT services and only 5% have done HIV test before. However, 59% of girls and 67% of boys said they want to undergo the HIV test. Residence (rural/urban) and level of education are strongly associated with awareness of VCT.