Awareness of HIV Status and Barriers to Accessing Testing Services among the Youth in Asutifi North District, Ghana, 2020

Introduction: The burden of HIV/AIDS among the youth has remained high at 12% in 2020. The levels of awareness of HIV status and barriers to testing services uptake among the youth are not fully determined. We studied HIV status awareness and barriers to HIV testing among the youth in Asutifi North district, Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 396 youths aged 15-24 years selected through a multistage sampling technique from Jan-Feb 2020. We used a structured questionnaire to gather data on HIV status awareness, testing services, and barriers to testing services uptake. The level of awareness of HIV status was estimated, and factors associated with the uptake of testing services were examined using multiple logistic regression at a 95% confidence interval. Results: The mean age of youth was 19.9±2.5 years. Awareness of HIV status among the youth was 25.5% (101/396), HIV testing uptake was found to be 25.7% (46/179) among females. Health workers' attitude was 100.0% (93/93); fear, stigma, and discrimination, 70.5% (279/396) were the main barriers to HIV testing services uptake. Having intentions for an HIV test (AOR= 1.80; 95% CI= 1.06 -3.05) was associated with higher odds of knowing one's HIV status. Conclusion: We found low HIV status awareness among the youth which could be attributed to stigma and discrimination and poor healthcare worker attitude. Ghana Health Service and partners should adopt innovative strategies to improve the youth's HIV status awareness and testing uptake.