Disabled people still have less access to ARVs

PEOPLE living with disabilities were often left out of HIV programmes, the 8th National Aids Conference now on at the Durban International Convention Centre heard.

Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) activists said that unless this was addressed, South Africa would struggle to reach the 90-90-90 target set by UNAids.

The idea is that by 2020, 90% of people who are HIV-infected will have been diagnosed; 90% of people who are diagnosed will be on anti-retroviral treatment, and 90% of those who receive anti-retrovirals will be virally suppressed.

Rosemary Brown, one of the researchers on a evaluating an HIV-prevention package in 21 communities in Zambia and South Africa, said the study had shown that people living with disabilities were at higher risk of acquiring HIV due to lack of inclusion in prevention programmes.

The TAC’s Portia Serote said children in informal settlements who lived with disabilities and were unable to attend school were also missing out on vaccinations against human papilloma virus. – ANA– Health-e News