Knowledge and Attitudes about HIV/AIDS among Homoeopathic Practitioners and Educators in India

courtesy : Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy Vol. 1, No. 1, 2007

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Adeline Nyamathi1, Vijay Pal Singh2, Ann Lowe1, Anil Khurana2, Divya Taneja2,
Sheba George3 and John L. Fahey4 1School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA, 2Central Council for Research inHomoeopathy,  Delhi, India
3Research Centers in Minority Institutions, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine
and Science and 4UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California

This study is designed to assess AIDS knowledge among Homeopathy educators and
physicians in India, which has not been evaluated previously. India now has the largest number of HIV infected persons worldwide, with an estimated cumulative 5.1 million infections. Homeopathy is the dominant system among the nationally-recognized alternative or complementary systems of medicine, which collectively
provide health care to around 600 million people in India. Homeopathy,with its holistic and patient-centered approach, has a wide reach to people at risk of contracting human immuno deficiency virus (HIV). Participants were 68 homeopathy physicians (34 educators and 34 practitioners) who completed a CDC questionnaire
measuring HIV/AIDS Knowledge regarding AIDS. This study reports the current level of knowledge of, and attitudes about, HIV/AIDS among homeopathy educators and practitioners. These findings will assist in the development of an education module to equip homeopathic health care personnel to impart accurate AIDS information
and prevention counseling to their patients in an efficient manner.
KEYWORDS : Education – HIV/AIDS – Homeopathy – India