Background: The rate of Khmer ethnic minority living in An Giang, Kien Giang and Hau Giang were 3%, 12.9% and 3%, respectively.These provinces had some specific factors such as low education, income and knowledge about HIV/AIDS, high risk behavior and it is difficult to practice intervention methods therefore the awareness of HIV infection risk on this group is required. Objectives: To determine the HIV prevalence, describe knowledge, attitude and risky behaviors that led to syphilis and HIV infection of the Khmer ethnic group, which are used to propose suitable intervention and prevention models. Subject and methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted from September 2006 to June 2007 in the Khmer ethnic group, including both genders at the age ranging from 15 to 49, living in some districts of An Giang, Hau Giang and Kien Giang. Results: A total of 877 households and 2.400 people were interviewed. 98.62% of the people agreed to take a blood test for HIV. The average age of first intercourse was 20. The condom usage proportion was very low. The number of men using condoms in the latest intercourse with their wives or lovers accounted for only 7.2%. Moreover, only 3% of the women used condoms in the last 12 months. The drug usage was 0.6% in Hau Giang and 0.1 % in Kien Giang. The knowledge about HIV/AIDS of both men and women were 9.2% and 4.5%. The prevalence of people, who made HIV test in the three provinces accounted for only 3 to 4.6%. HIV infection rate was 0.2% in An Giang, 0.5% in Kien Giang and 0.5% in Hau Giang. Syphilis infection rates were 1.6%, 1.4% and 1.5%, respectively. Conclusions: Appropriate communicative model is an effective way for the prevention HIV/AIDS among Khmer ethnic group.
HIV/AIDS ; Khmer ethnic minority