Internet use among Ugandan adolescents: implications for HIV intervention

Internet may have a promising role to play in delivering HIV information to adolescents

This article from PLoS Med surveys internet use among adolescents in Mbarara, Uganda. Out of 500 students questioned, 45 per cent had used the internet, out of whom 78 per cent had gone online in the previous week. The authors found that, as maternal education increased, so did the odds of adolescent internet use. Almost two in five respondents reported already having used a computer or the internet to search for health information. Over one-third had used the computer or internet to find information about HIV, and 20 per cent had looked for sexual health information.

Among internet users, searching for HIV information on a computer or online was significantly related to using the internet weekly. In contrast, going online at school was inversely related to looking for HIV information via technology. If internet access were free, 66 per cent reported that they would search for information about HIV prevention online. Both the desire to use, and the actual use of, the internet to seek sexual health and HIV information is high among secondary school students in the municipality. The authors therefore conclude that the internet may be a promising strategy to deliver low-cost HIV risk reduction interventions in resource-limited settings with expanding internet access adapted from author.

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Internet use among Ugandan adolescents: implications for HIV intervention