Faith learned she was HIV positive two years
ago, after giving birth to her daughter. The Zambian government prides itself
on its HIV prevention outreach, and every pregnant woman is supposed to be
tested for the virus, to prevent passing it on to their babies. But Faith, now
25, is deaf, and was never tested before the baby was born. Nor did she receive
even basic information about HIV. Now, Faith is on HIV treatment, but it’s a
struggle. Her 2-year-old daughter is positive too, which might have been
prevented if Faith had been tested before the baby arrived.
An estimated two million people with
disabilities in Zambia face significant barriers to HIV prevention, testing,
and treatment, in part because they are often seen as not engaging in sex,
according to a new Human Rights Watch report, “We Are Also Dying of AIDS.” Yet
the reality is that people with disabilities in Zambia are more vulnerable than
others to contracting HIV because of lower education and literacy levels,
greater poverty, and greater risks of physical and sexual abuse.
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