1. AUTHER: BABIRYE KWAGALA BETTY, TASO UGANDA LTD.
IAS, 2014 CONFERENCE 2O-25 JULY 2014
MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA

2. Outline Background Core objectives of the Network
Mission statement of the Network
Challenges facing women with Disabilities
Inaccessibility of service centres
TASO Disability mainstreaming program
Results of TASO Disability study 2011
Next steps
Acknowledgement

3. Background
The establishment of POSITIVE WOMEN WITH DISABILITY’S NETWORK OF UGANDA was thought during the meeting of PAN AFRICAN POSITIVE WOMEN’S COALITION
It was realized that women with disabilities infected with HIV are scattered in Uganda and Africa as a whole therefore, they need a unified voice.
The network will be affiliated to Pan African Positive women’s coalition, and other organizations of women living with HIV at both nationally and internationally to address specific issues of women living with disabilities and HIV.
In Uganda like some other countries in Africa there was no Network which targets women with disabilities living with HIV and AIDS.

4. Core objectives of the Network
To advocate for the rights of positive women with disabilities in accessing health services;
Elimination of mother to child transmission
Reproductive health education,
Post exposure prophylaxis for victims of sexual assault.
To advocate for HIV prevention program and provide HIV related information in tailored formats for women with different disabilities.
To involve women with disabilities in policy formation , planning, implementation and evaluation of HIV program.
To ensure that women with disabilities are appropriately supported HIV training and engage them in HIV psycho -social and care provision.

5. Core objectives of the Network
To provide adequate training and support for women with disabilities in households affected by HIV.
To empower positive women with Disabilities economically, socially so as to promote sustainable Development
To enhance the effective networking and partnership with different ministries, departments, and other AIDS agencies

6. Mission of the Network
To contribute to the process of HIV prevention, reduction of stigma and discrimination among positive women with Disabilities

7. Challenges facing women with disabilities
Poor accessibility to health centers
Women with disabilities report cases of rape and defilement little or no follow up is done, this increases the rate at which they acquire HIV
Poverty faced by women with disabilities is a risk factor to HIV/AIDS. Since most PWDs especially in rural areas are illiterate they can easily be taken up

8. Inaccessibility of service centres

9. Vulnerability of women With Disabilities is compounded by the social exclusion from;
Lack of mainstreaming Disability in AIDS services
No sign language interpretation
IEC materials not in disability friendly formats e,g Braille
Vague messages do not reach intellectual impairments
The blind depend on other people.
Governments and policy makers rarely consult Persons With Disabilities when enacting and reviewing policies

10. TASO Disability Mainstream
TASO took significant steps to mainstream the disability issues in 2003 into their programs, a counselor with disabilities was employed to handle in HIV management.
Some staff across the 11 centers were trained in sign language to cater for the deaf.
TASO service centers are accessible unlike other service providers
Different categories of persons with disabilities seek care and support from different TASO centers however, the exact proportions of different categories of disabilities were not known because DATA not captured until 2009

11. RESULTS OF THE DISABILITY STUDY IN TASO UGANDA
Out of the 40,655 clients registered with TASO in the study period, 601(1.5%) were noted to have a disability, 239 (39.8%) were males while 362 (60.2%) were females.
TASO serves 601(1.5%) PWDs compared to the general population in Uganda, where 10.4% PWDs (UBOS),
The largest proportion of the disabled population was within a monogamous marriage 200 (33%), while 121 (20.1%) were widowed, 125 (20.8%) were separated/divorced, and 55 (9.2%) were in a polygamous marriage.
The average age of the disabled population was 36.8 years

12. RESULTS OF THE DISABILITY STUDY IN TASO UGANDA
New clients who were registered between Feb 15, 2011 and April 15, 2011 about 1,927 clients were interviewed, and 269 were physically disabled, 156 visually impaired, Hearing impaired 71, Mental Health 16, and Deaf Blind 2

13. Next Steps
Future conferences include presentations on Disability issues in the plenary for wider outreach
Promote and provide formal and informal sexual and reproductive health education to girls and women with disabilities, paying necessary attention to communication needs of deaf , blind, and accessibility to Physically Disabled
HIV prevention, care and treatment programs need multidimensional approaches and a good-mix of skills to ensure women with disabilities receive equitable health services
Women with disabilities living with HIV and AIDS agenda in the HIV/AIDS arena should be brought out clearly and linked to policy and programming
To strengthen the National network in resource mobilization and networking at different levels.

14. Acknowledgement