Characteristics of Households - Childinfo.org

Tables HA.1 and HA.2 also present the percentage ofwomen who can correctly identify misconceptionsconcerning HIV. The indicator is based on the two mostcommon and relevant misconceptions, that HIV can betransmitted by mosquito bites and sharing food withsomeone with AIDS. The table also provides information onwhether women know that HIV cannot be transmitted bysharing food with someone with AIDS. The knowledge thatHIV can’t be transmitted by sharing food is higher in urbanareas, with women with higher education and those livingin households within the richer quintiles. Of the womeninterviewed, 56 percent reject the two most commonmisconceptions and know that a healthy-looking person canbe infected. The percentage of women know that mosquitobites and sharing food with someone with AIDS cannottransmit HIV is the same for both, 75 percent. Overall, 93percent of women know that supernatural means cannottransmit HIV, while 80 percent of women know that ahealthy-looking person can be infected.Women who have comprehensive knowledge aboutHIV prevention include those women who know of thetwo ways of HIV prevention (having only one faithfuluninfected partner and using a condom every time);who know that a healthy looking person can have theAIDS virus, and who reject the two most commonmisconceptions. Tables HA.1 and HA.2 also present thepercentage of women with comprehensive knowledge.Comprehensive knowledge of HIV prevention methodsand transmission is still low although there aredifferences by residence. Overall, 53 percent of womenwere found to have comprehensive knowledge, andthis was slightly higher in urban areas (60 percent). Asexpected, the percentage of women with comprehensiveknowledge increases with the woman’s education level(Figure HA.1). Similar patterns are observed for men15–29 years old (Table HA.1M and Table HA.2M).Knowledge of mother-to-child transmission of HIVis also an important first step for women to seekHIV testing when they are pregnant in order to avoidinfection in the baby. Women should know that HIVcan be transmitted during pregnancy, delivery, andthrough breastfeeding. The level of knowledge amongwomen aged 15–49 years concerning mother-to-childtransmission is presented in Table HA.3. Overall, 85percent of women know that HIV can be transmittedfrom mother to child. The percentage of women whoknow all three ways of mother-to-child transmission is65 percent, while 14 percent of women did not know ofany specific way. As expected, the percentage of womenwith knowledge of mother-to-child transmission ofHIV increases with the woman’s education level. It isalso higher in urban than in rural areas.Figure HA.1: Percentage of women who havecomprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission,Serbia, 2010MONITORING THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN 195