In the five years since the results of the Global Survey on HIV/AIDS and Disability were released,  research on people with disabilities and their experiences with HIV has grown exponentially. Returning to the lens of the International AIDS Conferences, at the 2004 meeting in Bangkok, Prince Ngongo Bahati won a Young Researcher Award for his study on voluntary counselling and testing for people who are deaf. His work had been conducted in collaboration with Liverpool VCT Kenya,  an organization working with and for deaf people,  which has developed a leading model of VCT peer-counselling for people with disabilities [50, 72]. 
At the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto in 2006, the Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation and the International Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation held two sessions on HIV and disabilities as a way to promote dialogue on these issues. Another event at the conference was entitled “Deaf People and HIV/AIDS:  Time to Recognize the Problem”.

Interest in this area was starting to grow. 

By the time the XVII International AIDS Conference was held in Mexico City in 2008, disability held a significant place in the programme. A session in the formal programme, entitled “Beyond Barriers: Disabilities and AIDS”, plus other research papers, were devoted to issues facing people with disabilities (see Appendix 1). There were also four disability-related satellite sessions led by AIDS-Free World,  Disabled People International,  Voluntary Service Overseas,  the Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development Aid (Cordaid),  and the Inter-American Institute on Disability and Inclusive Development (IIDI).  Building on this momentum,  the 2008 ICASA meeting,  convened later that year,  included two sessions focusing on disability and HIV.  A further milestone was the 3rd LAC Technical Meeting on STDs,  HIV/AIDS and Disability,  held just prior to the conference.  The event was co-organized by IIDI,  the World Bank,  the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (Mexico),  the Central American Social Integration System,  the National Program of STI and AIDS (Brazil),  and the Pan-American Health Organization. 
This dramatic rise in interest at the International AIDS Conference in 2008 prompted the creation of   an   Internet-based   network   on   disability   and   HIV.  This   network   is   now   a   vibrant communication exchange tool with more than 160 researchers,  activists and other stakeholders sharing information about research, advocacy developments, policies, meetings and publication opportunities   [73].  Other   networks,  like   the   International   Disability   and   Development Consortium (IDDC),  which advocates internationally for the inclusion of disability,  have also taken the issue of disability and HIV on board [74]. 

Jill Hanass-Hancock and Stephanie A Nixon

Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto, Canada, and Research Associate, HEARD, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Journal of the International AIDS Society 2009, 2:3   doi:10.1186/1758-2652-2-3
Jill Hanass-Hancock (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Stephanie A Nixon (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))

References

1.      United Nations: UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.  2008. [http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=150]
2.      Brashers DE, Neidig JL, Cardillo LW, Dobbs LK, Russell JA, Haas SM: “In an important way, I did die’: uncertainty and revival in persons living with HIV or AIDS. AIDS Care 1999, 11:201-219.
3.      Nokes KM: Revisiting how the chronic illness trajectory framework can be applied to persons living with HIV/AIDS. Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice 1998, 12:27-31.
4.      Philips A, O’Dell MW, Mills B: Comprehensive guide for the care of persons with HIV disease: Module 7-HIV rehabilitation services. Ottawa, Canada: Health Canada; 1998.
5.      World Health Organization (WHO): International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health Geneva: WHO, [http://www.who.int/classifications/icf/en/] 2001.
6.      Nixon S, Cott C: Shifting perspectives: reconceptualizing HIV disease in a rehabilitation framework. Physiotherapy Canada 2000, 52:189–197.
7.      Rusch M, Nixon S, Schilder A, Braitstain P, Chan K, Hogg R: Impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions: Prevalence among persons living with HIV/AIDS in British Columbia Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2004, 2:46.
8.      The Cross Cluster Initiative on Home-Based Long-Term Care, The Department of HIV/AIDS and Family and Community Health of the World Health Organisation: Community home-based care in resource-limited settings. A framework for action. World Health Organisation, Geneva; 2002.
9.      Worthington C, Myers T, O’Brien K, Nixon S, Cockerill R: Rehabilitation in HIV/AIDS: development of an expanded conceptual framework. AIDS Patient Care and STDs 2005, 19:258-271.
10.    Myezwa H, Stewart A, Musenge E, Nesara P: Assessment of HIV-positive in-patients using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg. African Journal of AIDS Research 2009, 8:93-106.
11.    Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation: Resources on Episodic Disability [http://www.hivandrehab.ca/EN/resources/episodic_disabilities.php]
12.    O’Brien K, Wilkins A, Zack E, Solomon P: Scoping the field: Identifying key research priorities in HIV and rehabilitation. AIDS and behavior. March 2009. DOI 10.1007/s10461-009-9528-z. 2009.
13.    O’Brien K, Bayoumi AM, Strike C, Young N, Davis AM: Exploring disability from the perspective of adults living with HIV/AIDS: Development of a conceptual framework. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2008, 6:76.
14.    Ernst J, Hufnagle KS, Shippy A: HIV and Older Adults. New York: AIDS Community Research Initiative of America; 2008.
15.    Booysen F: Social grants as safety nets for HIV/AIDS-affected households in South Africa1(1). SAHARA Journal 2004, 1:45-56.

Full references

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF.