Enhancing sexual and reproductive health Information of adolescents as a panacea to curb HIV and AIDS in Nigeria

Abstract

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the information available to adolescents concerning sexual health, existing approaches need to be assessed to determine their efficacy as a means of reducing the vulnerability and exposure of adolescents to HIV and AIDS. This paper takes the form of a case study and makes use of Peer Education Training (PET) as an intuitive and innovative approach to enable adolescents to make informed sexual decisions to reduce the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in Africa. The data was gathered by observing the behavior of participants in Peer Education Training, as sharing information among peers within a single demographic group has been found to provide an effective way of encouraging communities to participate in and own their campaigns against the spread of HIV and AIDS. On the basis of the findings, the wide adoption of peer education campaigns within individual ecosystems is suggested as an effective means of mitigating the spread of sexually-transmitted infections, HIV and AIDS. Cultural and academic institutions could play a vital role in the designing and use of peer education information programs, and media-centered peer education can provide an effective means of transmitting information, which may be further enhanced through the use of gaming techniques.