Sudan is the second largest country in Africa bordered by ten countries, some of which have high prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) [1]. In 2005, after signing a peace treaty between north and south to end over twenty years of civil war, many refugees in these neighboring countries returned home. This raised a concern among the community that some of these returnees may have been infected with HIV and were unaware of it, which would significantly add to the current estimates of 600,000 living with HIV/AIDS in the country [2]. The disease is more frequent in the age groups of 15 - 45, and 40% of the population is in this age range [3]. In 2007 alone, the confirmed cases of the virus reached 290,000. Of these, 4060 (1.4%) infected were adults aged 15 - 49 years old, with women constituting 59% of this age group. The estimated number of infected children less than 15 years was 25,000, and the number of deaths exceeded 25,000. These figures place Sudan at an intermediate HIV and AIDS prevalence of 1.6% [3-6].

There is an increasing concern among public concerning the threat posed by the AIDS epidemic, especially in rural communities. Approximately 70% of Sudanese people living in the countryside have insufficient information or knowledge about the risks of HIV/AIDS [7]. The inadequate knowledge about AIDS may be related to numerous factors including AIDS related-stigma, fear of contagion and false beliefs and attitudes towards people infected with the virus.

AIDS-related stigma seems to serve as a barrier to delivering effective information and knowledge to these remote communities. It represents prejudice and discrimination directed at people perceived to have AIDS or HIV, as well as the individuals, groups, and communities with whom they are associated [8-11]. According to this definition, infected persons are considered to have fallen short of normative social and religious expectations of a conservative society such as that of rural communities [8]. The primary sources of stigma are negative religious and social attitudes about the disease and the people infected with it. In the religious view, HIV/AIDS is largely correlated with homosexuality and sexual relations outside marriage [12]. In Islam, as in other religions, these practices are condemned and regarded as immoral behaviour that predisposes people to physical and social diseases, and therefore, are forbidden and punished by God. In other words, the sinful individuals have gotten what they deserve, or as one Western policymaker described it more bluntly as nature’s form of retribution against homosexuals [13]. Thus, the conservative rural people have become more sensitive to AIDS-related knowledge, preventive measures employed to fight against the disease and groups associated with it, such as those who advocate the use of condoms, Men who have sex with Men (MSMs) and others [12]. To them, the disease is highly contagious, embarrassing, intolerable to the public and health providers, and eventually leads to death [14]. Their hostility is not only directed towards the infected persons but also towards anti-AIDS campaigners who continually try to spread knowledge about the disease [15]. In their coercive/compassion dimension, Herek and Glunt (1991) viewed people’s negative attitudes towards AIDS as highly contagious and include attributions of blame to those who have become infected. Fear of contagion was reported among 79% of Sudanese dental students investigated about providing health services to HIV/AIDS patient [1].

Despite beliefs to the contrary [16], rural people still hold misconceptions that HIV/AIDS can be transmitted by nonsexual modes such as handshakes, sharing food, or being in a room with the infected person [17]. In addition, they view themselves as not among the most-at-risk groups since disease is believed to be highly prevalent among certain vulnerable groups such as refugees, internally displaced people, truck drivers, tea-sellers, sex workers and men who have sex with men [18]. In Sudan, tea sellers are a group of women sitting on the streets in the capital and other major cities and illegally selling tea and food items to their customers [15]. A national survey conducted in 2002 reported the HIV prevalence among these women to be highest at 2.5% [19]. All these factors combined negatively influence the attitudes of rural people not only in obtaining adequate knowledge about the disease but also in undermining the use of protective measures used to address it.

Despite the fear-mongering, efforts to curb the disease through public education by government and other agencies are increasing. For instance, in 2003, the Sudanese People Living with HIV/AIDS Care Association (SPLWHACA) was established in Khartoum to provide counselling and support to all persons infected with HIV /AIDS. The work of the association has expanded to teach the community about the means of contracting and of preventing the disease as well as fighting stigma, shame and deeply-held prejudice experienced by the infected people. At the governmental level, new curricula on disease protection have been developed by the Ministry of Education to educate 2.5 million elementary and high school students aged 10 - 18 years old about the risks of unprotected sex (29) The government efforts were expanded to instruct the public about the safety measures through the use of condoms in order to respond to the call of the United Nations Millennium Development Declaration (UNMDD) signed in 2000 to provide fund projects dedicated to eradicating the spread of HIV/AIDS [20]. The non-governmental organizations (NGOS) have also played a significant role in combating HIV/AIDS in Sudan. They have carried out a pilot prevention project of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) aimed at increasing the awareness of HIV/AIDS and improving reproductive health practices and health facilities in south Sudan [15].

Mass media (e.g., radio, television, magazine, newspapers) are known to play a pivotal role in fighting against HIV/AIDS. It functions as an agency of significant influence that provides wide-reaching communication to heterogeneous audiences simultaneously with uniform messages [14]. The main goals of media are to raise awareness of the existence of HIV/AIDS, modes of transmission and means of prevention [17]. In Sudan, over 90% of population knows the basic facts about HIV/AIDS [5], but the use of media in combating the disease has not been fully utilized. This may be related to several reasons including the vast geographical area of Sudan, different ethnic and cultural groups, limited resources and access to media channels and the lack of interest in acquiring knowledge about a disease equated with a promiscuous lifestyle.

Nevertheless, mass media continue to play a role in addressing psychosocial factors negatively affecting knowledge and attitudes among the rural people. For instance, a national survey conducted among Sudanese dental students reported 44.1% of participants identified radio and television as their primary source of information about HIV/AIDS, more than healthcare providers (39.3%) and significant others (31.3%) [5]. Similar results were reported in the United States where 72% of participants identified television, radio and newspapers as their primary HIV/AIDS-related information more than doctors, friends and family [4].

The purpose of the present study is to assess the HIV /AIDS related-knowledge, beliefs and attitudes among rural communities in Sudan.

The study was designed as a cross-sectional survey. Data was collected from permanent residents of rural communities to investigate their knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about HIV/AIDS and provide them with health education concerning the risks of the disease.