Original article - Ethiopian Review

adolescent school girls is also low and the rate of pregnancies is very high. Therefore, the presenteffort of educating students on AIDS and other STDs needs to be intensified so that it can bringabout favourable attitudinal change and subsequent behaviour modification. Moreover, promotingfamily life education in schools can be very useful. Contraceptive technology should be mademore readily available and accessible to the needy school population. These have also beenconsistently recommended by several other authors (18,24-26,35,36), hence, deserve the dueattention of the responsible policy makers and implementers.AcknowledgmentWe would like to acknowledge all the students for consenting and participating in our study. Wehighly appreciate the cooperation of the School Director for all the necessary arrangements. Wealso thank the various officials of the Gondar College of Medical Sciences for facilitating thisstudy and provision of logistic support. Interns namely, Alemu Dima, Ayalew Lakew, AshenafiMengistie, Bisrat Taye, Dereje Melesse, Dawit Endale, Esmael Hadji, Gedion H/Mariam, WalelignNega and Yonas Bekretsion, who coordinated the data collection process are highly acknowledged.Finally, we would like to extend our thanks to Ato Demeke Dessu for editing the paper.References1. Boyer CB, Kegeles SM. AIDS risk and prevention among adolescents. Soc Sci Med,1991;33:11-23.2. Barongo LR, Rugemalila JB, Gabone RM, Senkoro K.P. Kagera 1989 Health survey: HumanImmunodeficiency Virus sero-prevalence in adolescents. East Afr Med J, 1992;69:323-326.3. Wilson D, Greenspan R, Wilson C. Knowledge about AIDS and self reported behaviour amongZimbabwean secondary school pupils. Soc Sci Med 1989;28:957-961.4. Epidemiology and AIDS Department. AIDS Update. Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa,Ethiopia. April 30, 1995.5. Gebre S. Sexual behaviour and knowledge of AIDS and other STDs: a survey of senior highschool students. Ethiop J Health Dev 1990;4:123-132.6. Mehret M, Khodakovich L, Zewde D, et al. HIV-1 infection and related risk factors amongfemale sex workers in urban areas of Ethiopia. Ethiop J Health Dev 1990;4:163-170.7. Larson CP, Assefa M, Aboud F, Shiferaw T. Risk behaviours for HIV infection: theiroccurrence and determinants in Jimma town; South Western Ethiopia. Ethiop Med J1991;29:127-136.8. Teklu A. A KAP study on high risk sexual practices related to HIV transmission and preventionamong male residents of Arba Minch town, Southwest Ethiopia. MPH thesis. Department ofCommunity Health, Addis Ababa University. 1991.9. Teka T. College Student's Attitudes and Knowledge of AIDS. Ethiop Med J 1993;31:233-239.10. Shabbir I. & Larson CP. Urban to rural routes of HIV infection spread in Ethiopia, 1992.(Unpublished report submitted to J Trop Med Hyg, for publication, and awaiting to go to press)11. Shabbir I, Fasil H, Dereje L, et al. Knowledge, attitude and practice on high risk factorspertaining to HIV/AIDS in a rural community. Ethiop Med J 1995;33:1-6.12. Pollack S. Epidemiological and immunological study of HIV-seropositive Ethiopianimmigrants in Israel. Isr J Med Sci 1993;29(suppl):19-23.13. Asnake H, Tesfu L, Cherinet N, et al. Knowledge, attitude and practice on HIV/AIDS amongpupils of a rural high school in North Western Ethiopia. (Abstract: paper presented at the FourthAnnual Conference of The Ethiopian Public Health Association. Ethiop J Health Dev 1993;7:132)14. Ajayii AA, Marangu LT, Miller J and Pazman J. Adolescent Sexuality & Fertility in Kenya: ASurvey of Knowledge and Perceptions. Stud Fam Plann 1991;22(4):205-217.15. David HP, Morgall JM, Osler M, Rasmussen K, Jensen B. United States and Denmark:Different Approaches to Health Care and Family Planning. Stud Fam Plann 1990;21(1):1-19.