Terzic-Supic, Zorica (15840732000)Zorica (15840732000)Terzic-SupicSantric-Milicevic, Milena (57211144346)Milena (57211144346)Santric-MilicevicMirkovic, Momcilo (37048783100)Momcilo (37048783100)MirkovicKaric, Svetlana (56958474900)Svetlana (56958474900)KaricSoldatovic, Ivan (35389846900)Ivan (35389846900)Soldatovic2025-06-122025-06-122015https://doi.org/10.1186/s12914-015-0069-4https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84946949843&doi=10.1186%2fs12914-015-0069-4&partnerID=40&md5=da67ee5f5e34465f002cb020e53be56chttps://remedy.med.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/8037Background: HIV/AIDS continues to be a serious challenge to public health and human rights in the new millennium. The objective of this survey was to identify the correlation between socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge, attitudes and practices of mothers with preschool children, and their attitude towards whether a HIV-positive female teacher should be allowed to continue teaching in school. Method: This survey was additional study analysis of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) in the Republic of Serbia conducted in the period November-December 2010 following the UNICEF methodology. Women deemed eligible for the survey were those who had children under five, had never lost a child, were not pregnant at the time of inquiry and who had a clear attitude ("yes" or "no") towards whether a HIV-positive female teacher should be allowed to continue teaching in school. The criteria were met by 2309 out of 2992 interviewed women. Pearson chi-square and t-test were used to analyse the differences in respondents' attitude towards whether a HIV-positive female teacher should be allowed to continue teaching in school. Variables that were significantly associated with the dependent variable (p < 0.05) were entered into a multiple logistic regression model. Results: The respondents who were more likely to think that a HIV positive teacher should not be allowed to teach in school were those: who did not know that a healthy-looking person can be HIV-positive (OR = 1.84; 95 % CI = 1.19-2.83), who would not buy (OR = 29.90; 95 % CI = 22.52-39.71) or did not know/were not sure (OR = 2.21; 95 % CI = 1.46-3.33) whether they would buy vegetables from a HIV-positive vendor and women who did not know/were not sure (OR = 2.97; 95 % CI = 1.64-5.39) whether they would take care of a family member sick with AIDS in their own home. Conclusion: Misconceptions about HIV transmission represent a major barrier to combating HIV/AIDS epidemic and HIV/AIDS-related stigma. It is, therefore, necessary to continue education and raising awareness of human rights both among the population living with HIV and the general population. © 2015 Terzic-Supic et al.AttitudeHIVMotherStigmaWomen, Preschool children