Burden of and risk factors for sexual violence among women with and without disabilities in two sub-Saharan African countries.

Background: Available data suggest that women with disabilities have an increased risk of sexual violence, but little is known about the situation of those women living in resource-limited settings.

Objectives: To assess the burden and examine the drivers of sexual violence among women with disabilities.

Methods: This is a pooled analysis of two population-based surveys conducted in Cameroon and Burundi.

The multidimensional vulnerability of people with disability to HIV infection: Results from the handiSSR study in Bujumbura, Burundi.

Background: In resource-limited contexts, available data indicate that people with disability are disproportionally affected by the HIV epidemic. While disability resulting from chronic HIV infection has received some attention, few epidemiologic studies have examined the vulnerability of people with disability to HIV acquisition. The aims of the study were as follows: to estimate and compare HIV prevalence among people with and without disability living in Bujumbura, Burundi; to examine how the interaction among disability, gender and socioeconomic environment shapes vulnerability to HIV; and to identify potential pathways to higher HIV risk.

Disability and Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Cameroon: A Mediation Analysis of the Role of Socioeconomic Factors.

There is growing evidence showing that people with disabilities face more frequently socioeconomic inequities than their non-disabled peers. This study aims to examine to what extent socioeconomic consequences of disability contribute to poorer access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services for Cameroonian with disabilities and how these outcomes vary with disabilities characteristics and gender. It uses data from a population-based survey conducted in 2015 in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Prevalence of HIV infection among people with disabilities: a population-based observational study in Yaoundé, Cameroon (HandiVIH).

Background: In resource-limited settings, people with disabilities have been left behind in the response to HIV. In the HandiVIH study, we estimate and compare HIV prevalence and associated risk factors between people with and without disabilities.

Methods: In this cross-sectional, population-based, observational study, we used two-phase random sampling to recruit adults with disabilities and a control group matched for age, sex, and residential location from households of the general population.

HandiVIH--A population-based survey to understand the vulnerability of people with disabilities to HIV and other sexual and reproductive health problems in Cameroon: protocol and methodological considerations.

Introduction: In resource-limited countries, people with disabilities seem to be particularly vulnerable to HIV infection due to barriers to accessing information and services, frequent exposure to sexual violence and social exclusion. However, they have often been left behind in the HIV response, probably because of the lack of reliable epidemiological data measuring this vulnerability. Multiple challenges in conducting good quality epidemiological surveys on people with disabilities require innovative methods to better understand the link between disability and HIV.