Description

Since the first case of AIDS was recognized in America in 1981, HIV/AIDS has spread rapidly throughout the world. With current global plan for universal access to HIV care and treatment, HIV testing is the main entry point. Different studies showed that a great proportion of people living with HIV/AIDS do not know that they carry the virus making HIV testing underutilized. However, the reasons for young people for not taking being tested are not well studied. Moreover, University students fall within the most sexually active and high HIV risk group. This cross sectional study tried to assess the reasons why Bahir Dar University students prefer to or not to take HIV test. Stepwise multivariate analysis showed that being female, second year or above, starting sexual intercourse and knowledge about VCT(Voluntary Counseling and Testing) location were positively associated with the likelihood of having had HIV testing. Respondents with stigmatizing attitude were less likely to utilize the service. The study showed that stigma still plays a major role as a barrier for utilization of HIV testing services.