Awareness, knowledge, and accepting attitudes toward people living with HIV in Egypt: a secondary analysis of a nationally representative sample

Although human immunodeificency virus (HIV) prevalence in Egypt remains low, the number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) has increased in recent years, highlighting the need for nationally representative evidence on HIV awareness, knowledge, and accepting attitudes toward this poulation. We conducted a secondary analysis of the 2015 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to assess HIV awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and their sociodemographic and media-related correlates. Data from 16,671 respondents aged 15–59 years were analyzed. Analyses were weighted for national representativeness. We first conducted descriptive analyses, followed by univariable logistic regression to estimate crude associations and multivariable logistic regression to identify independent determinants of HIV awareness, good HIV knowledge, and accepting attitudes toward PLHIV. Overall, 74.3% of respondents had heard (were aware) of HIV. Among those aware, 45.4% had good HIV knowledge, while only 14.2% expressed accepting attitudes toward PLHIV. Education, age, knowledge, attitudes, and wealth were among the strongest correlates: higher education was independently associated with greater odds of both HIV awareness and good HIV knowledge, and adolescents aged 15–19 years had lower odds of good HIV knowledge than older respondents. Good HIV knowledge was independently associated with accepting attitudes. Unexpectedly, respondents in the middle, richer, and richest wealth quintiles had lower odds of expressing accepting attitudes than those in the poorest quintile. Although HIV awareness was relatively high in Egypt, substantial knowledge gaps and low levels of accepting attitudes persist. Targeted education and stigma-reduction interventions, particularly among younger populations, are needed to close these gaps and support Egypt’s progress toward the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 95-95-95 targets.