Nassozi Kiyaga
19 February 2008
opinion
Kampala — Although researchers have studied the disabling effects of HIV/AIDS on previously healthy people, little attention has been given to the risks of HIV/AIDS for individuals with a physical, sensory (deaf, blind), mental or multiple disability before or after infection.
Cultural and social prejudices create misconceptions that people with disabilities are not at risk of infection because they are incorrectly assumed to be sexually inactive. However, people with disabilities do the same things as everyone else and are just as sexually active as other people.
Growing evidence on the vulnerability of people with disabilities or risks of HIV-infection highlights the problems of programme exclusion. Current HIV/AIDS prevention and management strategies list target populations, including women and young people living in poverty, yet individuals with disabilities are among the poorest of all the world's peoples, especially in developing countries.
People with disabilities are also more likely to become victims of exploitation, sexual violence and rape. Girls often face double discrimination, both as a female and as a person with disability. These realities are compounded by the enormous barriers that prevent them from accessing information, health care services and counselling facilities, which results into their neglect and marginalisation.
Since hardly any HIV/AIDS prevalence data exists in Uganda for people with disabilities, cases of HIV-positive persons with disabilities are rarely reported or documented thus creating widespread exclusion from mainstream HIV/AIDS health care services and preventative campaigns. The majority of people with disabilities are less likely to obtain health information and related services due to lack of education and socio-cultural exclusion.
The deaf, deafblind, blind and those with learning or mental disabilities are disadvantaged in accessing written information on HIV/AIDS, including other media such as radio, television, public announcements, billboards and poster campaigns, which largely continue to remain inaccessible.
The right to information and awareness about HIV/AIDS, preventive methods, health care and treatment provision for those with HIV/AIDS is a human rights issue. The United Nation's "Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS" (UN, 2001) states a critical need to reduce HIV-prevalence among young men and women, can only be achieved if all people, both those with disabilities and those without, are equally considered.
People with disabilities are often excluded from participating in health, education, economic and social activities due to discrimination, causing barriers that impinge on their welfare and also limit their life opportunities. Young people with disabilities share some similar risks for HIV-infection as those without but they also face overwhelming difficulties in accessing HIV/AIDS/STI education, counselling and public health services.
There is urgent need for mainstream HIV/AIDS organisations to initiate and develop partnerships with groups for people with disabilities so as to create awareness, provide medical health care and treatment for people with disabilities. Effective interventions and preventative measures need to established to meet the crucial health needs of people with disabilities. Their welfare should be improved by providing access to health care and treatment for HIV/AIDS/STI and other infectious diseases.
They also require appropriate training to enable them acquire knowledge and coping strategies necessary in the prevention of HIV/AIDS infection and other preventable diseases,and to also empower them to become peer educators.
We need to urgently respond to and understand the issue of HIV/AIDS and disability within the entire context of health and primary health care because the implications of any infectious disease present dire consequences for a person with a disability. They should be provided with intervention strategies and health education programmes using comprehensive and friendly approaches.
Health workers need to educated on how to treat persons with disabilities who have HIV/AIDS. They should work with the Ministry of Health to identify gaps in HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, health care and support programmes for people with disabilities.
Uganda is internationally renowned and recognised as a model country for its impressive and aggressive strategy to combat the scourge of HIV/AIDS. However, more needs to be done to address the challenges of the epidemic among people with disabilities.
This is an opportunity for this country to spearhead initiative in developing a comprehensive model that can be used and replicated in health care services, education and nationwide awareness programmes for people with disabilities.
The writer is the Executive Director of Deaf Link Uganda
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