OBJECTIVES: As the pharmacist-wannabes, the undergraduate pharmacy students have an important role in national strategies on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunity deficiency syndrome (AIDS) prevention. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and behavior of final year undergraduate pharmacy students toward HIV/AIDS.

METHODS: Post ethical approval and oral consents, a cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample of 62 final year undergraduate pharmacy students using convenience sampling method in two private universities. Both universities were situated in Selangor, Malaysia. The content and face validations of the questionnaire were carried out among three experienced healthcare professionals and eight undergradutae students, respectively. After establishing the validation, the students’ responses were recorded on validated questionnaire that included questions on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge about HIV/AIDS, and behavior toward HIV/AIDS patients.

RESULTS: The overall mean scores of knowledge suggested that the enrolled students possessed good level of knowledge (8.52, ±1.16) about HIV/AIDS (transmission, treatment, and preventive measures). Conversely, there were some misconceptions regarding the transmission of the disease. Moreover, majority (n= 51, 82%) of the students showed good behavior towards the HIV/AIDS patients. There was no statistically significant association found by Chi-square test between knowledge score and socio-demographic data of the respondents (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Despite the overall good level of knowledge and behavior toward HIV/AIDS, periodic trainings on patients (HIV/AIDS) counseling and education among pharmacy students is essential to address few misconceptions. The role of well-trained final year pharmacy students is imperative in future community-ridden educational campaigns to increase the awareness of Malaysian general public especially in the underserved segments of the population.