Disabled persons with HIV neglected, says official

Participants in the World Aids Day celebration during a procession in Tudor on December 1, 2016. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • There are about 3000 disabled people infected with HIV yet most staff working in HIV centres lack sufficient knowledge and skills on how to deal, handle and manage such cases.
  • The disabled fail to access anti-retroviral drugs regularly as required owing to lack of funds for regular visits to medical facilities, improper structures and untrained health workers at some facilities.

Some 9,000 disabled and HIV positive persons in Coast want government to train health service providers on testing, treatment and care to offer quality services.

They also want the government to allocate them more resources so that they can be financially independent.

The region’s coordinator Sammy Chirchir made the appeal a day before World Aids Day adding that, they are facing a myriad of challenges because of their conditions.

“People tend to forget that the disabled have feelings or are like them and that they also get exposed to HIV infections through various forms,” he said.

According to him, there are about 3000 disabled people infected with HIV yet most staff working in HIV centres lack sufficient knowledge and skills on how to deal, handle and manage such cases.

He said that some staff at the health facilities often ask disturbing questions like how a patient got infected with the virus.

Consequently, he said that the disabled fail to access anti-retroviral drugs regularly as required owing to lack of funds for regular visits to medical facilities, improper structures and untrained health workers at some facilities.

“Because of poverty, most people with disability end up in relationships with people who do not care about them and who in turn infect them with HIV. Others are raped and get infected in the process,” he added as he urged all disabled people to get tested for HIV.

He also said the disabled lack proper training in colleges and polytechnics which he said adds to their misery.

This year’s World Aids Day theme on Thursday is: ‘Leadership. Commitment’. Impact and also comes at a time when the International Day of People with Disability is celebrated annually on December 3.