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82 None of the males mentioned mother to child transmission as a mode of transmission. A few of the women mentioned it.
Majority of the male and female respondents in the intervention market agreed that the use of condoms during sexual intercourse could protect an individual from acquiring the infection. ‘I did not know there were female condoms but I now know. I would even like to try it’ ‘My major problem is that I am faithful to my husband but he has other wives. What if those other wives have boyfriends?’
In the control market some of the men agreed that being faithful to one’s sexual partner is the most important way to prevent HIV. ‘If you don’t want to die young you should stick to one sexual partner’ Others claimed that this was difficult to do but advised that people who have more than one sexual partner should use condoms.
Beliefs, myths and misconceptions
Most of the men in the intervention market believed that all human beings are not equal. ‘All fingers are not equal. God made us like that. Now that I understand HIV better I will be nice to people who have it but that does not mean that they are the same with me. I don’t have the disease’
Similar opinions were held by the male traders in the control market. Some believed in the equality of all human beings while others did not. The women in both markets were also divided in their opinions about the equality of human beings.
In the intervention market, most of the men and women were aware of antiretroviral drug and believed that someone who is HIV positive can live a normal life if he or she takes the drugs although the men said that herbal drugs should be explored. I still believe that the solution to HIV lies in our herbs’.
83 In the control market, some of the female participants said that antiretroviral drugs are not effective. ‘I’ve heard of someone who took the drugs but still died’. ‘I have even heard that those drugs can poison the body.’ Only a few of the males in the control market knew about antiretroviral drugs.
Uptake of HIV counseling and testing
All the participants in the intervention market knew where to go for an HIV test. Three of the males in the intervention market had checked their HIV status while there was no change in the number of male participants in the control group who had checked their HIV status. Most of those who had not done the test claimed they did not have the time to go for it. Others mentioned the fear of a positive result and the stigma that would follow as their reasons for not checking their status.
Many of the female participants in both the intervention and control groups had checked their HIV status Pre-intervention. Only a female participant in the intervention market checked her status after the intervention. ‘I went for HIV test after the programme in the market’
Attitude towards PLWHA
The women in the intervention market said their attitude towards PLWHA has improved. ‘When you know how people can get HIV and how to protect yourself from getting it and also see someone who has it looking healthier than some of us, you attitude will be different’
Some of the men also said they now understand the disease better and that has changed their attitude towards PLWHA. Some of the male and female participants in the control market said that they felt pity for those living with HIV but a few of them would not want to associate with
84 them. The traders in the control market said their leaders may not accept an HIV positive person in the market. ‘Like we said in our previous meeting, someone who is HIV positive will not be accepted in this market’.
Both the male and female participants in the intervention market believed that an HIV positive person would be better accepted in the market since the traders had been sensitized. ‘I also think our leaders will be more receptive. They spoke to us during the programme and I think they were sincere’.
Information about HIV and AIDS
The male participants in the control group noted that the number of messages about HIV had decreased over the years. One of them said ‘This is a dangerous trend because people will begin to relax and feel that HIV no longer exists or that we were told lies before especially the young people. They do what they like and many of them are too young to understand these issues’. The other participants agreed. ‘We need more adverts on the television and radio to remind us that HIV is still with us’. The female participants also had similar views but said that the health workers should be more caring. ‘Sometimes the health workers stigmatize against people living with HIV’
In the control markets two female participants said their churches organized HIV campaigns and screened members of the church. Some of the males in the control market noted that awareness about HIV has increased but many people still engage in acts that put them at risk.
85 Summary of the FGD findings
Pre-intervention:
A few of the male respondents in the intervention group did not believe that HIV exists and majority of the respondents in both the intervention and control groups could not clearly differentiate between HIV and AIDS. The traders revealed several misconceptions about HIV transmission and treatment. People living with HIV/AIDS were generally considered inferior to those who are not infected and therefore may not be accepted in both the control and intervention markets. Uptake of HIV counseling and testing was low especially among the male respondents.
One of the reasons given for this was fear and stigma associated with HIV due to scary messages received from health care providers when the disease was newly discovered.
Post-intervention:
There was an improvement in the knowledge of HIV and AIDS among the participants in the intervention market compared to the participants in the control group. There was also an improvement in the attitude of participants in the intervention towards PLWHA. No change was observed in the attitude of the respondents in the control market. There was a general belief that PLWHA would be better received in the intervention market. In addition, three of the male participants in the intervention group had checked their HIV status while there was no change in the number of men in the control group who had checked their HIV status.
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