INFLUENCE OF SELECTED ECONOMIC FACTORS IMPACT ON THE RESPONSE OF COLLEGE STUDENTS TOWARDS VCT SERVICES: A CASE OF SELECTED MIDDLE LEVEL COLLEGES IN NAIROBI PROVINCE, KENYA
The researcher sought to find out whether the economic situation of the students has an impact on the way they respond to the VCT services. The researcher sought to find out their monthly income, place of residence, whether they have access to television, radio or newspapers as a source of information and if they have heard of any VCT awareness campaign. The VCT facilities have not however been fully utilized especially by the youth. Based on this realization the study sought to determine the influence of socio-demographic factors on the response of college students towards VCT services. Purposive sampling was used to select three colleges to be used in the study out of nine major colleges. This being a descriptive research, a stratified random sampling design was appropriate. More female students were aware of the VCT services 82.6% as opposed to 68.2% male while less than half of the population 45.7% were aware of the location of this facility. The study concludes that the percentage of college students who are tested for HIV is relatively low considering the effort that has been made by the government, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders in creating awareness on HIV/AIDS campaigns. One of the recommendations by the authors is that college students should be helped to deal with stigmatisation, fear and discriminations.