They have not heard of AIDS: HIV/AIDS awareness among married women in Bombay

Many married women in India have still not heard of AIDS despite increasing risks, intensive health education campaigns and widespread scientific and media attention. Cross-sectional survey data collected from 350 married women in Bombay, India, revealed that one out of three women had not heard of AIDS. The women who had not heard of AIDS had significantly fewer years of formal education, lower personal and family incomes, less exposure to the mass media and were more likely not to know of condoms in comparison to the women who had heard of AIDS. The results suggest that there are socio-economic barriers to health information. Specific interventions targeted to this group using specific channels of communication are urgently needed.