HIV/AIDS - An Attitudinal Survey
Final Report

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9. Summary

On the whole, Canadians are very knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS. Most generally understand the nature of the disease, as well as methods of transmission and testing. Relatively few are misinformed about how one contracts HIV/AIDS or how to detect HIV. They show a general appreciation of the fact that men who have sex with men and injection drug users are among the top at risk groups in Canada. They also realize, for the most part, that while treatments are fairly effective, there is no cure for HIV/AIDS. There is very mixed appreciation, however, for the fact that AIDS is, in all cases, fatal. Even among the most knowledgeable, this fact is not well understood.

In spite of the high levels of knowledge about the disease, knowledge of government efforts in this area is quite weak. Very few know about the CSHA, or even areas of government focus. Nonetheless, they are quite supportive of government involvement in HIV/AIDS and generally place more emphasis on public education, prevention and research into treatment.

It is not surprising, given knowledge levels, that most Canadians view HIV/AIDS as a very serious issue, which is not diminishing over time. Relatively few Canadians view HIV/AIDS as a problem that belongs to someone else (e.g., third world, gay community, drug users). On the other hand, everyone reports an extremely low perceived personal risk of contracting HIV.

Most people report that they are generally comfortable with the idea of being around someone with HIV/AIDS, however, the discomfort increases when it comes to serving the public or going to school with one's child.

The profile of information sources is generally reflective of where people get other health-related information, with a slightly greater emphasis on television news, newspaper articles, health programs and schools, and less reliance on doctors and the Internet. On the other hand, these later sources are exactly where the public would prefer to be able to obtain information about HIV/AIDS.

With respect to behaviour, safer sex is practiced by only a small minority of the sexually active and almost always as a result of casual or multiple partners. It is rarely practiced by people in regular, ongoing relationships.

In terms of testing, one in four have been tested, but almost half of those were not tested in the past two years. Among those who were tested in the past two years, this was typically once.

Overall

Although knowledge levels are high, there is quite a knowledge gap with respect to the government's approach to HIV/AIDS. Support for government involvement, however, is high and Canadians would welcome learning about efforts concentrated on public education, prevention and research into treatment (as they view HIV/AIDS as a very serious issue that must be addressed).

While undoubtedly there is no shortage of information about HIV/AIDS on the Internet, it is interesting to note that Canadians report that they currently rely on the Net (and doctors) less for this issue than for others, but express a preference for getting their information this way. Perhaps future communications campaigns could highlight key websites where Canadians can find information about HIV/AIDS and the federal government strategy related to it.

While tolerance and comfort levels among Canadians are high in theory, likely in practice they would be lower, given the variation in responses to different questions and scenarios put forth in the survey.

From a behavioural point of view, messaging regarding safer sex is clearly a very tough issue to tackle, as even the most knowledgeable are quite complacent about the idea of risk of contracting HIV and the need for protective measures. Given that the fatal nature of HIV/AIDS is not well understood, messages regarding safer sex may have their strongest impact when coupled with the message of fatality (no matter how long after contracting the disease death occurs).

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