Abstract

This study assessed the influence of personal characteristics on knowledge and attitude of Pamol plantation workers (n = 75) towards HIV/AIDS in Southwest Region of Cameroon. The percentage of workers with correct knowledge on the etiology/transmission, symptoms and prevention of HIV/AIDS and positive attitude towards HIV/AIDS was determined. Knowledge indices on etiology/transmission (KIET), symptoms (KIS) and prevention (KIP) of HIV/AIDS and attitude indices (AI) of the various age groups, marital status, educational level, religious groups, sex, migration status and rank of the workers were constructed. Regression analysis, Analysis of Variance and Students t-test were used to analyze the data. None of the personal characteristics of the workers had any significant (p>0.05) influence on their knowledge and attitude towards HIV/AIDS. However, the mean KIET of supervisory workers (16.75) was significantly different (p<0.05) from that of their hourly rated counterparts (15.78). The mean AI of respondents in the supervisory category (14.46) was higher than those of the hourly rated category (12.35). Despite the existence of HIV/AIDS programmes in the plantation workers, HIV/AIDS stigmatization was still present. This stigmatization would have a negative impact on the productivity of affected workers. Hence, intervention programmes aimed at eliminating stigmatization among the workers should be pursued.

Key words: Cameroon, HIV/AIDS, knowledge, attitude, stigmatization plantation workers.