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AIDS programmes forget deaf and blind people

    JOHANNESBURG

    Problems experienced by deaf and blind people in accessing HIV/AIDS information in Africa were recently examined in the New York Times.

    The newspaper said that while access to information was a problem for disabled individuals worldwide, it was "particularly acute" in Africa, where HIV/AIDS prevention efforts had "largely forgotten" such people.

    The newspaper also suggested that HIV/AIDS education messages on radio or television "do nothing" for those who cannot hear or see.

    Moreover, people in Kenya who were deaf and could not read English or Swahili were often denied services at HIV/AIDS testing centres, "because nobody knows how to communicate with them," the Times reported.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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