Opinion Paper

Disability and HIV: What drives this relationship in Eastern and Southern Africa?

Jill Hanass-Hancock, Ilaria Regondi, Kerisha Naidoo
African Journal of Disability | Vol 2, No 1 | a25 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ajod.v2i1.25 | © 2013 Jill Hanass-Hancock, Ilaria Regondi, Kerisha Naidoo | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 27 March 2012 | Published: 12 February 2013

About the author(s)

Jill Hanass-Hancock, Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Ilaria Regondi, Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Kerisha Naidoo, Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

The Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) region is the epicentre of the global HIV epidemic and also home to a large number of people with disabilities. Both HIV and Disability are significant public health issues. While they are generally viewed as distinct and unrelated phenomena data seems to suggest that they are particularly closely intertwined in ESA.

For the first time in history, by using the same disability indicator consistently, the publication of the World Report on Disability in 2011 has allowed for the comparison of disability data between countries, and across regions. This has the potential to shed some light on the relationship between disability and socio-economic markers and other health conditions in a way that was not possible previously. In the absence of disability and HIV-specific population-based surveys, this paper uses global socio-economic and HIV datasets and compares them to data contained in the most recent World Report on Disability.

The analysis suggests that disability prevalence may be related to HIV-prevalence in ESA (Pearson 0.87). It identifies research and policy gaps and seeks to shed light on the relationship between the two phenomena. It concludes that, more than any other region in the world, ESA needs to ensure better data collection on disability and the inclusion of disability throughout its HIV programmes in order to provide a comprehensive and appropriate response to the epidemic.

 


Keywords

disabiltiy; HIV; Africa

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Crossref Citations

1. Physiotherapy rehabilitation in the context of HIV and disability in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Saul Cobbing, Jill Hanass-Hancock, Margaret Deane
Disability and Rehabilitation  vol: 36  issue: 20  first page: 1687  year: 2014  
doi: 10.3109/09638288.2013.872199