SURVEY: Views on AIDS in China

A recent survey came out which "investigates knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and practices (KAB/P) among different segments of society in six important Chinese cities Kunming, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Wuhan, Zhengzhou and Beijing." It was conducted by "Renmin University with financial and technical support from UNAIDS, the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria (GBC), and Ogilvy."

From a final sample size of 6,382 interviews, the focus was on four social groups:

1. Youths: Aged 15 to 24, with local identity card (hukou), and resident in the target city for at least 1 year continuously, in or out of school. Total surveys conducted: 1,604
2. Migrant Workers: Aged 18 to 49, engaged in manual work in cities, without local identity card (hukou),living in target city for at least 3 months continuously. Total surveys conducted: 1,529
3. Blue-collar workers: Aged 18 to 49, with local identity card (hukou), and resident for at least one year in the target city, engaged in manual work. Total surveys conducted: 1,649
4. White-collar workers: Aged 25 to 49, with local identity card (hukou), and 1 year of continuousresidence in the target city, engaged in managerial or higher-level work. Total surveys conducted: 1,600

The complete text is available here: AIDS-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, Behavior, and Practices: A Survey of 6 Chinese Cities

For our purposes, here are some the most interesting results I found:

Popular Media Formats in China:
- The five most popular media formats among interviewees in China were television (79.2%) newspapers (53.5%), the Internet (34.1%), HIV/AIDS materials and booklets (22.5%), and magazines (21.
0%).
- The survey showed that China Central Television (CCTV) was the most watched channel (86%) among all the TV networks and channels in China.
- The most watched television programs were news programs (62.0%), series dramas (47.2%), then entertainment programs, and finally sports and movies with 25.9%, 24.1%, and 18.0% shares of all
viewing respectively. Educational programs accounted for 11.1% of viewing. Other common responses included "super entertainment programs” (8.3%), music programs (6.6%), entertainment talk programs (5.6%), and documentaries (3.0%).

Chinese Views and Behaviors related to AIDS and HIV
- 52.3% of the interviewees viewed China’s current HIV/AIDS situation as “serious” or “very serious”.
- Thirteen survey questions used to determine knowledge of transmission routes were answered
correctly on average 80.9% of the time. However, more than 48% of respondents thought they could contract HIV from a mosquito bite, and over 18% by having an HIV positive person sneeze or cough on them.
- 26.3% of interviewees did not know where they could get an HIV test. 11.0% did not know
where to get condoms and 29.6% did not know how to use a condom correctly. 43.1% had never
used a condom, mainly because of sexual inactivity or trust in their sexual partner(s).
- 30.0% of interviewees think HIV positive students/children should not be allowed to study at
the same schools as uninfected children/students.
- Nearly 48% of interviewees would be unwilling to eat with an HIV-infected person; 65% would be unwilling to live with an HIV-infected person, and 63.4% would be unwilling to accept services such as hairdressing from an infected person.
- Conversely, more than 74% of respondents would be willing to "shake hands" with HIV/AIDS infected people, nearly 80% would be willing to care for a sick relative, and 53.
- 7% would be willing to work in the same place as an HIV/AIDS infected person.

Condom Use
- The survey showed that 2,753 (43.1%) of more than 6,300 total interviewees had never used a condom before.
- 79% of white-collar workers said they had never used a condom, the highest percentage
in the survey group.
- Second were blue-collar workers (66.8%) and migrant workers with 61.9% Only
- 19.7% of youth said they had never used a condom before.