DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2020.v08i10.018

Pages: 2309-2312

Background: HIV continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed almost 33 million lives so far. However, with increasing access to effective HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care, including for opportunistic infections, HIV infection has become a manageable chronic health condition, enabling people living with HIV to lead long and healthy lives. There were an estimated 38.0 million people living with HIV at the end of 2019. Aims & Objectives: To assess the knowledge of HIV/AIDS among para medical staff. Materials & Methods: The study was a hospital based cross-sectional study which was conducted in Malla Reddy Hospital, Suraram, Hyderabad. A total number of 109subjects (nurses and lab technicians) were included in the study. All the participants were given a questionnaire and the filled questionnaires were collected on site. Results: Out of 109 participants, majority of the study participants had good awareness about different modes of transmission of HIV. About 77% said it is through sexual route, 79.81% said it could be due to blood borne, 86% said from mother to child transmission and 87.15% said it is due to needle stick injury. Only 26% were aware that vaccine against HIV/AIDS is in the developmental stages. Conclusion: Transmission of blood borne infections through needle stick injury is a harsh reality involving health care personnel. There is an urgent need to teach basic knowledge about HIV infection and service availability.