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2022 School of Allied Health Sciences International Journal of Academic and Applied Research

Students’ Health Behavior and Course Completion in Public and Private Universities in Uganda

Asingwire Richard; Ijeoma Amunaka B; Sofia Sol Gaite T.

The study was on Students’ health behavior and course completion in public and private universities in Uganda. It wasconducted in 9 public and private universities in Uganda while balancing 3 regions: Central, Western and Eastern. The study wasof Qualitative in nature and used a Positivism philosophy backed with Health Belief Model (HBM) by Rosen stock, supported by theTheory of Reasoned Action (TRA) which was proposed in 1975 by Martin Fishbein. Students perform health behavior havingreasoned about the positive and negative consequences. Health Belief Model terms like Susceptibility, Perceived benefits, Perceivedbarriers, Self efficacy and Clue to barriers were borrowed from HBM. Preventive, Illness and Sick-role behaviors that werepathways to the risky health behavior were borrowed from HBM. These pathways were used in studying related literature, designingresearch instruments, collecting data, analyzing and interpreting it. Findings: A new culture has come up - students have createdtheir own new life where there are no outsiders like elders. Students don’t care about the future. They have lost hopes. There is anincreasing rate of cross-age risky sexual behavior. Cross gender risky sexual behavior is rampant among students either willingly,lured or forcefully. Love for money, materials plus job promising are becoming the order of the day. Students accept their riskysexual behaviors is concerned publicaly. HIV is being transmitted at a very high rate among students. A big number of studentsdon’t know their HIV status. The majority of students don’t their HIV status and are doing nothing as far as preventing themselvesfrom being infected by HIV. Almost all the students don’t know anything about Prep. Some few students who are HIV positive stoppedfrom taking their ARVS. The majority of students don’t use condoms. So many students are suffering from Sexual TransmittedDiseases. Recommendations: There should be enough programs of Health behavior awareness starting from national lever tostudents as individuals. Social media should be the pathways of educating, guiding and controlling students. Religious leaders shouldgo to come down to where students are to give hope. Health institutions should come down to find students where they are. Studentsshould develop a habit of health seeking behavior. Though out of restriction and free from the ‘eye’ of the parents or teachers,students should learn how to control themselves using laws of nature.