ABSTRACT
Worldwide, the proportion of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections due to heterosexual transmission is increasing. As estimated by World Health Organization (WHO), it will reach approximately 75 percent by the year 2000, resulting in an increasing proportion of new cases being women. The target population consisted of two groups: a medical group and a lay group. Women were questioned in three different hospitals to reduce selection bias. The majority of both groups considered drug-users and prostitutes to be at high risk. Of the lay group, 26 percent were not aware of the risks of HIV infection in male homosexual activities and considered them as moderate to irrelevant, compared to only 3 percent of the medical group. Most Lebanese women in the Greater Beirut area are aware that acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a major problem in their community. Basic information about ways of transmission and methods of prevention has been widely disseminated.
