This article is part of the series HIV/AIDS and Disability.

Review

Disability and HIV/AIDS - a systematic review of literature on Africa

Jill Hanass-Hancock

Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

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Journal of the International AIDS Society 2009, 12:34doi:10.1186/1758-2652-12-34

Published:	13 November 2009

Abstract

This systematic review focuses on empirical work on disability and HIV/AIDS in Africa in the past decade and considers all the literature currently accessible. The review presents data from different surveys and summarizes the findings. In this way, it convincingly reveals that people with disabilities are very vulnerable to contracting HIV, and lack access to information, testing and treatment. The review further reveals gaps in the research and areas of concern. While vulnerability and accessibility have been investigated, there are few prevalence studies or evaluations available. A certain amount of work has focused on the deaf population, but little has been done for other disability groups. A growing area of concern is sexual abuse and exploitation of people with disabilities. Only a few studies or interventions focus on this crucial area.