What are the most effective ways to provide HIV services to people with disabilities?
Work with people with disabilities to find out what HIV and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services they need, and what needs to happen so that disabled people can access them. It is important to work with a range of disabled people so different types of disabilities are catered for.
It can be effective to train people with disabilities as peer educators so they can help deliver services and support. They may be able to help overcome things like communication barriers and build trust.
It can also be effective to provide home-based services. But it is important to balance the need for privacy against the support some disabled people need to interact with others.
There is a need to adapt HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights information for people with disabilities. This could include working with sign language interpreters, producing documents in Braille, or using simple picture-book guides for people with learning disabilities.
Are people with disabilities more at risk of HIV than other at-risk groups like sex workers or gay people?
It depends on the individual. But it is important to remember that a disabled person may also be gay or trans, or they may sell sex or use drugs, or be a number of these things. The more vulnerable groups someone belongs to, the more stigma and discrimination they will experience, and the more barriers to healthcare, education and work they will face – all of which increases HIV risk. For instance, women and girls with disabilities experience discrimination based on both their sex and disability status. If they also sell sex or use drugs (or both) this will make them even more vulnerable.
How can we increase HIV and SRH health services and support for people with disabilities?
One of the most useful things to do is to contribute to the evidence by collecting data on the kinds of disabilities people have, other demographic information like their gender and age, the kind of HIV and SRH services disabled people need or struggle to access, their experiences of sexual violence and abuse, and HIV and STI prevalence. Being able to present data and evidence on these things can help make the case for greater investment in SRH and HIV services for disabled people.