Saudi attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS

AIDS-related attitudes knowledge and fear were measured among a group of 298 Saudi men. Results show a mixture of tolerant and intolerant attitudes. Respondents who were more religious and less knowledgeable about AIDS were significantly more intolerant towards people living with AIDS. Fear of AIDS and age had no significant influence on the attitudes of the respondents. The number of studies on the attitudes towards people with AIDS in the Arab World is very small. In fact since the first AIDS case in Saudi Arabia was reported in 1984 only three studies were published.–3 The purpose of this study was to survey a group of Saudi adults regarding their attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS and to explore the determinants of these attitudes. The data for this study were collected from 298 Saudi men at a management training institute in Saudi Arabia. Respondents were between 18 and 35 years old with a mean age of 26.1 years. (excerpt)