Relevance of HIV IEC Materials-A study among PLHIVs

Abstract

AIDS has been the leading cause of death in world wide. India has a population of around 2.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS, aged between 15 and 49. For the enhancement of the quality of life of the People living with HIV more projects were carried out by Govt. and Non Government Organizations. Information, Education and communication (IEC) is an integral part in these projects. This paper reveals the relevance of IEC materials published under the project of Prevention of HIV/AIDS and Strengthening of PLHA Self-help Network in Tirunelveli District. Descriptive methodology was adopted for the study. Both Quantitative and qualitative data were collected by using interview method and focused group discussions. There are five NGOs involved in the study and 122 PLHIV interviewed with Systematic sampling method. The study reveals 97.5 per cent of the target people received IEC materials. 86.9 percent of them have read the materials. Within this 64.8 percent of them adopted few matters they read in their life. 81.1 percent of them responded that the IEC materials were easy to understand. Finally this study concluded that the IEC materials were very useful for the target people because 91.8 per cent wished to continue the IEC materials even after completion of the project.