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Introduction
Rising trends in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), in particular HIV/AIDS, have become one of the world's main concerns. Some 39.7 million people were living with HIV in 2006, half of them under the age of 25 years (Lusti-Narasimhan et al., 2007), while rates of STDs in the United States are high, particularly among young, poor and minority men (Sonfield, 2002). One in six American men aged 15-49 years have genital herpes, which is an incurable infection, while reported rates of chlamydia and gonorrhoea, which are treatable bacterial infections, are highest among younger men in their early 20s (Sonfield, 2002). The emergence of HIV and other STDs among youths is a major public health problem as a large proportion, particularly among adolescent males, are not aware of the threat of these diseases and have very little knowledge about them. Age 15-24 years is the transition to early adulthood, a crucial phase in a man's life in terms of physical growth and development, social and psychological maturity, sexual maturity and the onset of sexual activity experimentation (Audinarayana, 2010). These behaviours potentially put them at risk for STDs and HIV/AIDS. Thus it is important that young people know the risks associated with certain lifestyles and sexual behaviours that could have an adverse effect on their health, and ways to avoid these risks.
The concern about the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and other STDs among youth is shared by many across the globe, as evident by the numerous studies in the literature in recent years: for example, Amazigo et al. (1997), Olaitan (2007) and Ebeniro (2010) in Nigeria, and Ndubani & Hojer (2001) in rural Zambia. Knowledge about STDs/AIDS and sexual behaviours have also been investigated in other countries including Brazil (Trajman et al., 2003), Scotland (Thomson et al., 1999), Tanzania (Mbago & Sichona, 2003; Lema et al., 2008), Ukraine (Pylypchuck & Marston, 2008), Finland (Korhonen et al., 2012), United States (Harwell et al., 1999), Afghanistan (Mansoor et al., 2008), Pakistan (Farid-ul-Hasnain et al., 2009; Abrar & Ghouri, 2010), Goa in India (Vaz et al., 2006), Iran (Movahed & Shoaa, 2010), Indonesia (Ford et al., 1993) and Thailand (Thianthai, 2004). The...