Twenty percent of Singaporeans also believe that HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS, can be transmitted via a cough or a sneeze, while 16 percent say scientists "don't know as much as they claim" about the issue.

An associate professor at the National University of Singapore Business School carried out the survey on 100 young adults who had at least a secondary education, with many having a university degree, the Straits Times said.

The associate professor, Vivien Lim, said the findings of the survey were not surprising because campaigns to raise awareness in Singapore had only been targeted at niche groups.

"A nationwide campaign to inform the public about AIDS, in particular about ways to prevent its spread, is an essential first step in the battle against the disease," the Straits Times quoted Lim as saying.

"Unless the battle against AIDS is fought with the same concerted effort as the war against SARS, uncertainty, ambivalence and anxiety about the disease will continue to prevail."

The issue has become a hot topic in Singapore after Senior Minister of State for Health Balaji Sadasivan last month said the city-state was facing an "alarming AIDS epidemic".

The government has said the number of new HIV cases was likely to surpass 300 this year, from just two recorded in 1985, 111 in 1995 and 226 in 2000.

Singapore has recorded a total of 2,332 HIV infections to date, of whom 874 have died, 564 have full-blown AIDS and 894 show no symptoms.