This publication relies primarily on a unique source of information to document AIDS awareness and AIDS-related behaviours extracted from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), which conducted in 39 African, Asian and Latin American countries. It contain a wealth of data on HIV/AIDS which until now was not disseminated to a wider audience.
According to data the general level of awareness of AIDS is generally high. In over half of the countries, at least 90 per cent of the female population have heard of AIDS, and in more than three fourths of the countries, at least 90 per cent of the male population have heard of the disease However, awareness remains low in a few countries. In Bangladesh and Nepal, less than one in three ever-married women have heard of AIDS.
However, in half the countries surveyed,including some countries where HIV/AIDS prevalence exceeds 5 per cent ofthe adult population, one quarter to one third of female respondents know of no way to avoid getting AIDS half the male and female respondents knew about mother-to-child transmission of the virus. In the Niger, only 48 per cent of males and females knew about mother-to-child transmission, and in Nigeria, just 47 per cent ofthe men knew of it.In several countries,about one third ofrespondents said they did not know about this form of transmission. This was true for women in Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria and for men in Chad and Mali.