Respondents living in shacks and in rural areas consistently lag behind their economically advantaged urban counterparts in exposure to AIDS information and knowledge. Higher levels of education also have a positive relationship to HIV/AIDS knowledge and also condom acceptance. Young people in poor and rural communities have far less access to a wide range of sources of information on HIV/AIDS than their urban and economically advantaged counterparts. Is rural risk higher than urban risk? Will rural pockets of AIDS be the last to be eradicated?

A common belief is that a healthy looking person is not HIV-infected, yet AIDS should be known for its long years of silence. Another belief is that outsiders not friends carry HIV.

Many get HIV/AIDS information from the mass media, yet many others learn about sex from their friends.