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Disability
is not Inability |
:: The disabled are extra vulnerable to Aids
Story by AGHAN DANIEL
A common misconception is that disabled people are not sexually
active, and are, therefore, not at risk of being infected with
HIV.Another myth is that substance abuse, sexual abuse and violence,
homosexuality and bisexuality do not exist among the physicallyhandicapped.
These assumptions are all wrong, and they lead to these people
being excluded from HIV/Aids prevention and care services. This
is a large group of individuals who face all the known risk, and
are also up to three times as vulnerable.
Whereas the disabling effects of HIV/Aids on previously healthy
people have been the subject of attention by Aids researchers,
little attention has been paid to the risk of HIV infection for
individuals with physical, sensory, intellectual or mental health
disability prior to acquiring the virus.
According to Handicap International’s Disability Project,
HIV is an unrecognised problem for disabled people worldwide,
especially among the deaf. Overlooking this threat is one of the
most dramatic forms of exclusion they face.
They face the other stigma that they are largely invisible in
their communities, and they are generally overlooked during efforts
by the global development community to improve the living standards
of millions of the world’s poor.
It is important for policymakers and development partners alike
to realise that, with roughly 10 per cent of the world’s
population (600 million) living with one form of disability or
the other, disability components must be built into all development
projects.
Because people with disability are among the most marginalised
today, the implications of HIV infection among them have been
largely ignored.
Every major risk factor linked to HIV infection is also present
among the disabled. They are significantly more likely than their
non-disabled peers to live in poverty, to be illiterate and to
be unemployed. Heavily stigmatised, they are often barred from
taking part in the social, legal, religious and political affairs
of their communities.
It is self-defeating for the able-bodied to continue ignoring
the plight of the disabled, yet according to Handicap International,
abuse of disabled women is quite high. Records show that some
may have multiple sex partners and are, therefore, contracting
Aids in droves.
Poverty, which has long been associated with the spread of HIV/Aids,
has firmly rooted itself among the disabled who are hardly given
opportunities to excel, either due to an insensitive school system,
or due to negligence by various establishments.
It should be noted that literacy rates for the disabled are exceptionally
low (one estimate cites an adult literacy rate of only 3 per cent
globally).
Sex education programmes
This stifles effective communication of messages about HIV/Aids.
Sex education programmes for those with disability are rare, and
almost no general campaigns about HIV/Aids target them.
Indeed, where Aids campaign programmes are on radio or television,
groups such as the deaf and the blind are at a distinct disadvantage.
The Global Survey on HIV/Aids and Disability, 2003 says HIV/Aids
is a significant and almost wholly unrecognised problem among
disabled populations worldwide. While all individuals with disability
are at risk from HIV infection, subgroups within the disabled
population – most notably women with disability, disabled
members of ethnic and minority communities, disabled adolescents
and disabled individuals who live in institutions – are
at especially increased risk of contracting the disease.
Sadly, the report notes, HIV/Aids educational, testing and clinical
programmes are largely inaccessible to such individuals.
The findings from the Yale/World Bank study strongly argue that
disabled people can – and should – be included in
all HIV/Aids outreach efforts.
Much of this work can be done at little or no additional expense.
Other programmes need only slight modification to be made significantly
more inclusive.
Disability-specific measures will also be needed to reach some
sub-groups within the larger disabled population. These can be
justified from the perspective of both development economics and
human rights.
The current situation calls for a platform where donors, governments
and NGOs can come together to design and implement initiatives
that will dismantle problems disabled people are facing due to
HIV/Aids.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:
The Daily Nation (Nairobi), 21 November 2006
Mr Daniel is the co-ordinator, Media for Environment, Science,
Health and Agriculture (MESHA)
http://www.nationmedia.com
interneteditors@nation.co.ke
Category: Health
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