ATTITUDE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS TOWARDS HIV/AIDS COUNSELLING IN WARRI SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF DELTA STATE

ATTITUDE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS TOWARDS HIV/AIDS COUNSELLING IN WARRI SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF DELTA STATE (GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)

CHAPTER ONE

1.0  Introduction

1.1  Background of the Study

In the last 20 years, Aids (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) has killed over 25 million people, since it was first recognized in 1981 and thus making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. AIDS is a fatal disease without a cure and it is a disease that responds to little treatment.

It is acquired which means that it is not passed down from generation to generation through a person gene. AIDS is a disease that attacks the immune system in the body. It is a system in the body that produces white blood cells in order to fight diseases.

According to Gong and Rudniick (1987), Aids is a condition which is caused by HIV (Human Immune Deficiency Virus) which was first reported in the last spring of 1981by Michael Gotieb and four of his colleague at the University of California, School of Medicine Los Angeles, United State of American.

According to these authors, the discovery was made among five homosexuals, since then there has been massive spread of HIV among people of all ages, races, countries as well as continents. In 1983, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first discovered by a French Cancer Specialists Luc Montagros along with other scientists, at the Pasteur Institution in Paris. Since then, cases have been reported with reasons of promiscuity of sexually active people during the 1980s and the sharing of intravenous hypodermic needles and syringes by drug users.

The high incidence of HIV/AIDS since it was discovered has been widely reported among secondary school students. US AIDS (2000) reported categorically that half of newly HIV infected persons who numbers about 15,000-16,000 per day were aged 15-24 years (largely adolescent in senior secondary classes). Despite the high incidence of the disease among youths, the attitude of students toward HIV/AIDS over the years has been negative.

ATTITUDE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS TOWARDS HIV/AIDS COUNSELLING IN WARRI SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF DELTA STATE (GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)