HIV/AIDS – Impact on Vulnerable Groups

HIV/AIDS does not discriminate, yet it disproportionately infects and affects vulnerable groups. Of particular concern are children and youth; women; men who have sex with men; injecting drug users; sex workers; persons with disabilities; prisoners; soldiers; migrant workers; and refugees.

Poverty and the marginalization associated with it can increase vulnerability. Poverty can, for example, force girls or women to trade sexual favors for food to feed their families, or prevent individuals from buying condoms. It can keep adolescents out of school, depriving them of an opportunity to learn how the virus is transmitted, and putting them at a greater risk of drug abuse and other risky behaviours such as unprotected sex. It can exacerbate family tensions that lead to domestic violence or abandonment of financially dependent women. Addressing the underlying causes of vulnerability to infection, including poverty and gender inequality, is critical to ending the epidemic (UNFPA,2008).