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1st International HIV Social Science and Humanities Conference
Panel title: Is disability the way of the future for conceptualising and managing HIV in the era of ART?
This panel was most likely Africa's first panel on an international conference that focused on the disabling effects of HIV in the era of ART. The rollout of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa since the mid-2000's has marked a new era in the history of HIV whereby vast numbers of people are living far longer lives. By the end of 2009, 37% of people eligible for ART in sub-Saharan Africa received treatment. AIDS-related deaths in southern Africa dropped by almost one-fifth from 2004-2009. Most people living with HIV who are on ART can expect improvements in CD4 counts and viral loads, fewer opportunistic infections and overall reductions in HIV-related morbidity and mortality. From a biomedical perspective, many people living with HIV are doing very well. However, there is growing evidence to demonstrate that people living longer on ART also experience diverse forms of disability resulting from HIV, its related conditions, and side effects of ART. Although individual experiences of disability will vary greatly, at a population level we can anticipate disability to become a common feature of living with HIV. This shift has far-reaching implications for individuals as well as health and social systems in resource-poor settings, none of which are geared for these new challenges.
This panel presented empirical research that seeks to reconceptualise HIV within a disability framework in order to explore the opportunities, imperatives and limitations revealed by this approach.
Chair: Kay Govender - Keynotes.
Speakers:
- Introduction presented by Jill Hanass-Hancock: Reconceptualising HIV management with the ICF framework.
- Stephanie Nixon (Uni Toronto): 15 Years of HIV and Rehabilitation Research in Canada: Instructive, Essential or Irrelevant for Sub-Saharan Africa? .
- Hellen Myezwa (WITS) presented by Stephanie Nixon: Comparing the Use of ICF in two different resource poor settings/countries.
- Verusia Chetty (UKZN): Collaboration between health professionals in the era of ART.
- Jill Hanass-Hancock (HEARD): Preparing for AIDS as a chronic illness: HIV Policies and Disability Rights in Southern and Eastern Africa (ESA).
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