Higher HIV Rates among People with Disabilities: A World AIDS Day Reflection

by Kupenda

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Today, on is World AIDS Day, we remember that the HIV infection rate among people with disabilities is up to 3x as high as people without disabilities. This is due to the fact that people with disabilities are at a higher risk of violence, sexual abuse and a lack of access to legal protection, education, and sexual health information.
We stand with our partners and beneficiaries in fighting such injustices by:

  • Educating community members the rights of people with disabilities under the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD);
  • Ensuring health services, including HIV testing centers, care services, and teaching and training sessions are fully accessible to people with disabilities;
  • Working with partners to ensure that health information, including HIV education, is available to children with disabilities through the sign language interpreters, Braille resources and physically accessible facility spaces;
  • Providing HIV and health information in formats tailored to children with different disabilities;
  • Encouraging Kenya’s government to ratify and incorporate into national law instruments that protect the human rights of persons with disabilities, including the CRPD; and
  • Advocating for children with disabilities in Kenya to have full sexual and reproductive rights, access to harm reduction services, and to be free from physical and sexual abuse.


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