African foreign students’ behavioral practices towards the University of KwaZulu-Natal HIV and AIDS support programme at Howard College Campus.

Abstract

This study investigates African foreign students’ behavioural practices towards the University of KwaZulu-Natal HIV and AIDS support programme. The participants of the study consisted both male and female between the ages of 26- 30 students from college of humanities, college of Agricultural engineering and science and the college of Health science of the Howard College Campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. The Health Belief Model was adopted in this study to explore the factors that influence African foreign students’ behavioural practices in response to HIV prevention at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The study is both quantitative and qualitative. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used in data collection. The study revealed that foreign students’ behavioural practices towards UKZN HIV and AIDS Support Programme is limited to HIV and AIDS testing, with very few students knowing about other activities of the programme. This implies that the programme needs to create more awareness regarding its activities and active participation of all students, especially international students who mostly feel disengaged within the school. The study also found out that the major barriers that hinder African foreign students from joining the HIV and AIDS support programme include: lack of adequate publicity about the programme, foreign students home country’s perception of HIV and AIDS and fear of hidden costs related to programme activities. When these things are taken into consideration, it will increase general awareness of UKZN African foreign students’ participation in the programme. It is indeed a fact that the way South African students see HIV and AIDS is quite different from how students from other countries view HIV and AIDS scourge. This study therefore aims to provide knowledge of the factors that influence African foreign students' behavioural practices towards HIV and AIDS support programme, so as to improve the implementation process of the program for better efficiency.