Students’ Perception on Government Policy of Routine HIV Testing: A Case of University of Zambia Ridgeway Campus

Background HIV Routine testing to all hospital attendants offers testing to all patients irrespective of their presenting illness even if it has nothing to do with HIV. This approach differs from voluntary counselling and testing, which is client-initiated. Adolescents and young adults especially those in colleges are a sexually active group of people which makes them prone to HIV infection. Therefore, there was need to conduct this study to determine the perception of students on routine HIV testing at the University of Zambia (Ridgeway campus) to determine their attitude towards HIV testing. Design and Methods A cross sectional quantitative study was conducted at UNZARidgeway hostels using stratified random sampling to select study participants which included all males and females who were on campus. A semi-structured interview questionnaire was applied to collect data which was analyzed using SPSS version 23software. A Chi-square test was applied for descriptive analysis and results were presented in tables and charts. Results Majority indicated that routine HIV testing was a good policy and supported it; though surprisingly 94% of the students were knowledgeable about routine HIV testing and yet their knowledge did not affect their perception of the policy. However, their experiences, expectations and beliefs affected students’ perception on routine HIV testing. Conclusion Health practitioners should have positive attitude and good work culture in order to uphold students’ positive perception so as to encourage a culture of HIV testing and is free from stigma.