Article

The international literature suggests that disabled people may be at
increased risk for HIV infection. There is a growing increasing recognition of
this in South Africa, although there remains a paucity of literature on how
disabled people are affected by HIV/AIDS. This is a concern given the seriousness
of the epidemic here. This paper reports on descriptive data exploring gender
differences in HIV knowledge and unsafe sexual behaviours among disabled
individuals in South Africa. METHOD: Data was collected by means of a survey
questionnaire from a total sample of 285 disabled individuals in three of the
nine provinces in South Africa. Data was analysed by means of descriptive
statistics. RESULTS: There are low levels and uncertainty of knowledge about HIV
transmission and HIV prevention, with females tending to have lower levels of
knowledge than males. Although the importance of condoms in HIV prevention was
recognised, there were relatively high levels of reported unsafe sexual
behaviours. Males reported higher number of monogamous and concurrent sexual
partnerships and sex without a condom after alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS: The results
support the literature that suggests that disabled people are at risk for HIV
infection, and that both male and female individuals with disability are at risk.

Langue : ANGLAIS