Closing the equity gap: A call for policy and programmatic reforms to ensure inclusive and effective HIV prevention, treatment and care for persons with disabilities in Eastern and Southern Africa.

In this paper, we explore the critical barriers that persons with disabilities face in accessing HIV services in the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) region, despite significant advancements in overall accessibility. We highlight the intersectional challenges experienced by individuals with disabilities, particularly women, and outline a comprehensive approach to bridge the existing gaps in policy and programmatic efforts. Specifically, we aim to address the exclusion of persons with disabilities from essential HIV prevention, treatment, and care services, a situation that has profound implications for their health, social inclusion, and economic productivity.

Deafening silence on a vital issue: The World Health Organization has ignored the sexuality of persons with disabilities.

In 2016, the World Health Organization, through the Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology Initiative, issued the Priority Assistive Products List which is meant to be a guide to member states of the 50 assistive products needed for a basic health care and/or social welfare system; it is also a model from which nations can develop their national priority assistive products lists. The aim of this opinion paper is to share my views about the Priority Assistive Products List on the grounds that it makes no distinct mention of sexual assistive devices, yet research has indicated that sexuality is an area of great concern for persons with disabilities. In any case, sexuality forms a core part of being human, and it impacts on both the physical and mental well-being of all human beings.

Disability is not asexuality: the childbearing experiences and aspirations of women with disability in Zimbabwe.

The aim of this article is to elucidate the childbearing experiences and aspirations of women with disability in Zimbabwe. The paper draws from a qualitative narrative study conducted by researchers at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, which explored the experiences of sexuality of disabled women in Zimbabwe and which used the Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method to generate data. In part, the study revealed that disabled women often encounter a diverse range of challenges that are associated with disability and which hinder them from realising their full sexual and reproductive health and rights.