Disability and HIV: Vulnerability of People With Disabilities to HIV Infection in Sub-Saharan Africa

According to the recent World Report on Disability, around 15% of the world population lives with a disability and 80% of people with disabilities (PWD) live in developing countries. More and more evidence show that PWD are more likely to be poor, vulnerable to physical and sexual violence, and to have less access to education. Therefore, PWD are likely to have an increased risk for HIV infection, potentially being a key population in regard to this epidemic. The vulnerability of PWD was recognized in 2007 by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However, data on the extent how PWD are affected by HIV is still very limited. As a result, PWD are usually overlooked by National AIDS Control Programmes and few projects specifically targeting them have been developed. Recognizing the need for appropriate and reliable data to help protect the rights of PWD and achieve a better inclusion of disability in National AIDS Control Programmes, the Institute of Research for Development (IRD), the Institut de Formation et Recherche Demographique (IFORD) and Handicap International (HI) propose this study that aims to provide quantitative and qualitative data on the vulnerability of PWD to HIV infection in Cameroon and Burkina Faso, in order to define if this vulnerable population is also a Key Population in relation to the HIV epidemic. This study adopts a multidisciplinary approach (quantitative and qualitative methods). Quantitative data are collected only in Cameroon. Only the quantitative study is described here.