HIV/AIDS and Individuals with Disability

hallmark of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been its impact on vulnerable populations. Surprisingly, one of the world's most vulnerable populations -individuals who live with a permanent physical, sensory (deafness, blindness), intellectual, or mental health disability -has been almost entirely overlooked despite the fact that they are at equal or increased risk of exposure to all known risk factors for HIV. It is commonly assumed that individuals with disability are at low risk of HIV infection.' They are incorrectly believed to be sexually inactive, unlikely to use drugs or alcohol, and at less risk of violence or rape than their non-disabled peers. Individuals with mental illness have received more attention, but a focus on this group still lags behind that for the general population.2 Individuals with disability are among the most stigmatized, poorest, and least educated of all the world's citizens.