Trends and determinants of Comprehensive HIV and AIDS knowledge among urban young women in Kenya

In sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya is among countries most affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic which led to the declaration of AIDS as a national disaster in 1999. Given this scenario the study was undertaken to examine trends in HIV and AIDS comprehensive knowledge and identify the main correlates of comprehensive HIV and AIDS knowledge among Kenyan urban young women. The response to HIV and AIDS can only be successful if individuals adopt behaviours that will protect against infection. Currently, efforts are underway in Kenya to ensure that young people have comprehensive knowledge. As evident from the results, comprehensive HIV and AIDS knowledge has increased over the 15 year period among urban young women from 9% in 1993 to 54% in 2008/09. Despite this improvement, a lot more needs to be done to attain the target of 90% threshold set by UNGASS.