• Koji Kanda, Yoshi Obayashi, Rossana A Ditangco, Gino C Matibag, Hiroko Yamashina, Shoko Okumura, K Tudor Silva, and Hiko Tamashiro.
• Department of Global Health and Epidemiology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
• J Infect Dev Ctries. 2009 Sep 15; 3 (8): 611-9.

BackgroundHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence is relatively lower in Sri Lanka than in other Asian countries; however, the number of HIV-infected persons has rapidly increased in recent years.MethodologyA baseline study on HIV, acquired immunodeficiency virus (AIDS), and sexually transmitted infections (STI) knowledge, attitude, and practice was conducted at two construction sites in Sri Lanka from January to February 2007 to design an effective intervention strategy for the construction workers.ResultsAmong 611 respondents (mostly males, mean age 32.8 years), nearly two-thirds lived away from home. Knowledge was fairly good on AIDS prevention but poorer on STI than on HIV. Some misconceptions were also observed. A high percentage did not consider HIV/AIDS as their own personal issue, and over 50% respondents expressed discriminatory attitudes towards HIV positives. Condom access was limited due to social and cultural norms. Mobility was not significantly associated with practice of prevention of HIV and STI.ConclusionThis study showed that the construction workers were not specially at higher risk of HIV at that time. In order to minimize the potential risk of infection, however, it would be effective to reduce stigma and discrimination among them through the prevention program, working together with community or religious leaders in the areas. More comprehensive assessment among other population groups would also be beneficial to identify their risk of infection.

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