Do not overlook people with disabilities in HIV prevention efforts

Jun 21 2011

Winstone Zulu, an adviser for AIDS-Free World and the coordinator of Health Triangle Zambia who walks with crutches because of a polio infection as a child, writes in a New York Times opinion piece that "people with disabilities are rarely exposed to sex education and are almost never considered in need of information about H.I.V. and treatment for it. As a result, although people with disabilities are just as likely to be sexually active as people without, our H.I.V. infection rate is up to three times higher."

"We must no longer be overlooked because of false assumptions about our sexuality. People with disabilities can and do have sex. I know from my own experience. We need to be a part of the fight against H.I.V., too," he concludes (6/18).