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The present study compares knowledge, awareness and attitudes related to HIV/AIDS between 645 urban and 499 rural women aged between 20-45 years belonging to Rajbanshi ethnic population of North Bengal, India using multi-stage random sampling method. Data related to knowledge, awareness and attitudes related to HIV/AIDS was recorded using a pre-structured questionnaire and open-ended interviews. Data were statistically analysed using chi-square analysis, regression analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 16.0) and R (version 4.0.0). Results of PCA analysis showed that significant differences existed in the knowledge, awareness and attitudes related to HIV/AIDS between the rural and urban women (p<0.05). Comprehensive knowledge, awareness and attitudes related to HIV/AIDS were significantly higher among urban women, as compared to rural. Efforts are required by the local bodies, non-governmental agencies and the government to create awareness towards HIV/AIDS, especially among the rural population. The comprehensive knowledge gap and misconception must be eradicated in order to reduce the relative risks of disease transmission in community or population level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Ensuring the quality and effectiveness of counselling is imperative for enabling people living with HIV to cope with treatment adherence. Countrywide assessment of antiretroviral therapy (ART) centres was undertaken to assess the quality and effectiveness of counselling. The insights gained from the assessment are expected to build an improved understanding of the counselling aspect and contribute to informing decisions strengthening the counselling provided at ART centres. Methods Assessment of counselling at 357 ART centres entailed interviews with counsellors and beneficiaries using a structured questionnaire administered by trained technical experts. Two counsellors and five beneficiaries at each ART centre were interviewed to assess both the quality and effectiveness of counselling. Beneficiaries were selected from different risk groups to understand their varied concerns and experiences. Results During the assessment, 618 counsellors were interviewed (45% women); also, 1785 beneficiaries were interviewed, consisting of 892 (49.9%) men, 857 (48.1%) women and 36 (2.0%) transgender. Counsellors were found to be relatively well informed on topics pertaining to pre-ART, ART preparedness and positive healthy living, and the psychosocial support extended to patients. Counsellors surveyed were not aware of critical areas such as counselling of pregnant women (44.5%) , drug adherence (44.8%) and the use of information, education and communication material during counselling, and pill count. The majority of beneficiaries reported being informed on issues pertaining to retention; however, 30–40% of beneficiaries were not informed regarding the critical elements of adherence such as counselling on ART side effects (68.5%), pill count (62.8%) and information on access to social benefit schemes (25.7%). Factors such as client volume, the training of the counsellors and adequate space for counselling affected the quality of counselling. Conclusion With concerted efforts in bridging the gaps in knowledge, infrastructure and information needs, India's national AIDS control programme (NACP) can enhance the counselling services at ART centres and improve the quality of services for patient retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]