Western health officials believe the incidence of HIV infection in the People's Republic of China is much higher than has been reported, but knowledge about the disease remains low. This paper describes a preliminary study of Chinese college students' AIDS knowledge and beliefs and of the acceptability of mass media for AIDS education. Focus group interviews of 73 Xiamen University students showed that the students used radio more consistently than any other media and viewed magazines as the best media source of health information. However, they expressed a general distrust of the health information media offer. They possessed quite a bit of accurate information about AIDS but also harbored many inaccurate beliefs. Most felt that their personal risk from AIDS was very low because they felt distanced--either geographically or morally--from those at risk. Disturbing numbers felt that fate, not individual behavior, determines whether or not a person contracts HIV. The paper discusses the study's implications for future research.
PIP: The feasibility of mass media channels for AIDS educational campaigns was investigated through focus group discussions involving 73 journalism and communications students from Xiamen University in Xiamen, China, in 1993. Although students rarely watched television, primarily because of lack of access, radio ownership was widespread. Magazines were identified as the best source of health information, but were infrequently purchased because of their expense. Notable among students were a lack of concern with health issues, a preference for receiving health information from interpersonal sources such as friends, and a general mistrust of health information found in the mass media. In terms of AIDS, students were most interested in articles about foreign celebrities infected with the AIDS virus. Although students' knowledge of AIDS was generally very good, virtually all insisted they were at negligible personal risk as a result of their geographic, cultural, and moral distance from those infected. Despite alarming increases in both prostitution and intravenous drug use in Fuijian province, students did not believe AIDS represents a growing social problem in their area. Also widespread was the belief that AIDS prevention is largely a matter of fate or luck rather than of personal action. These findings indicate a need for a mass media campaign aimed at increasing awareness of the potential AIDS threat to China. Broader comprehension of AIDS on the part of Chinese health care workers and campus leaders, through mediated or interpersonal channels, also could have a beneficial impact.