Sociobehavioural matrix and knowledge, attitude and practises regarding HIV/AIDS among female sex workers in an international border area of West Bengal, India

BACKGROUND: HIV/AIDS is still a big public health challenge of India. Female Sex Workers (FSWs) belong to an important high risk group (HRG) in the transmission of HIV/AIDS. International borders have intermingling of population and also plenty of migrant population. Thus study on FSW s with relation to HIV/AIDS in an international border area is an important area of Research. AIMS: The present study was planned with the objectives of: to determine the sociodemographic profile of the FSW under the study, to assess their knowledge and attitude towards HIV/AIDS and to find out their sexual practices. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: It was a community based descriptive cross sectional study, done at the Indo-Bhutan border town of Jaigaon in Alipurduar District of West Bengal with the help of a Non-governmental organization (NGO) working on Targeted Interventions (TI) for FSW. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Total 90 FSWs were interviewed using predesigned pretested questionnaire. The questionnaires used were prior validated by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The data were analysed by SPSS 14.0. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The analysis revealed that 35 % of the study population were illiterate. It was also found that 81% of respondents had heard about HIV/AIDS; 76.7% had knowledge about its spread through vaginal sex, 67.8% had idea regarding its Mother to Child transmission. 92% felt PLHIV should not be kept away from others, 93% felt they shouldn't be deprived from property. Regarding sexual activity, 76.7% had sexual activity more than 3 times/week and 97.8% used condom persistently in last one year. Coordinated Efforts is required to be taken in this regard to tackle these problems.