Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

People with disabilities are now included in the Senegal National HIV Strategic Plan, thanks to years of advocacy and the results dissemination of a study on HIV prevalence undertaken among people with disabilities. In spite of this progress, the disabling complications of HIV have not been recognised nor the need for physical rehabilitation care for people living with HIV addressed by the healthcare system. To redress this, Handicap International, a non-governmental organisation working in Senegal, piloted a rehabilitation component within its HIV/Disability project in the region of Ziguinchor. It aimed at providing HIV prevention and treatment, including rehabilitation services, to people living with HIV who became disabled and HIV positive people with disabilities. The physical rehabilitation component focused on assessing the needs of service providers, medical officers, people with disabilities and people living with HIV on how patients' physical rehabilitation could be addressed; developing basic physical rehabilitation training tools; training local key health providers; and providing basic physical rehabilitation services by trained staff. This physical rehabilitation project component has proved to be relevant for strengthening the regional AIDS care management for people living with HIV, and addressing the rehabilitation needs of patients living with other chronic health conditions, such as stroke and diabetes. Also, it highlighted the importance of disability inclusion in service provision for quality improvement, monitoring and evaluation tools, and referral and back-referral mechanisms. To conclude, this project calls upon decision-makers and programme managers to take into consideration physical rehabilitation as a tool for healthcare system strengthening, and Global Health practitioners and researchers to be more attentive to rehabilitation services to reduce people's morbidity and increase their quality of life, beyond death.