Pamela Mandela Idenya

Physician Training in Hiv / Aids Care Services: Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Health Care Providers Towards Hiv and Aids Pamela Mandela Idenya

HCPs' Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices HIV and AIDS contribute to nearly one-fifth of disease burden in sub-Saharan Africa. The challenge of HIV and AIDS disease is further compounded by the health care providers' struggle to acquire necessary knowledge and skills to deliver effective HIV and AIDS prevention, care and treatment services. Many countries have therefore initiated human capacity development programs focusing on training of the health care providers to support HIV and AIDS prevention, care and treatment services as part of the effort to scale up HIV and AIDS services. In order to describe their characteristics and to determine the physicians' knowledge, attitudes and practices on HIV and AIDS a group of physicians attending a Training of Trainers (TOT) course in HIV and AIDS held in Nairobi were surveyed. Individual physician data characterizing their knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices was collected using an anonymous group-administered questionnaire. This study indicated that the more the number of years a physician was in health care practices the better his/her knowledge, attitudes and practices in provision of HIV and AIDS treatment and care services.