Older People and
HIV AIDS
around the
World
Uganda: Circumcision –
‘My Experience’ (April 15, 2012)
In 2007, the World Health
Organization and UNAIDS decided that male
circumcision should be part of an HIV
prevention package utilized in several African
countries known for having greater risks.
Research conducted on the procedure revealed
that heterosexual men who are circumcised
faced a significantly reduced risk of 50 to 60
percent. Since then, the project has
participated in over 250,000 circumcisions in
Kenya’s Nyanza Province. Here is the story of
an AVAC (AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition)
employee who also decided to undergo the
procedure.
South Africa: National
Strategic Plan 2012-2016 – Living with AIDS
(April 12, 2012)
The NSP aims to prevent
new AIDS-related deaths and new HIV
infections. Condom use will be promoted,
especially among older population groups. HIV
infections among older groups are increasing
in part because people infected at younger
ages are living longer and in part because
older men feel they are not at risk and do not
have to use condoms.
Africa:
Aging HIV/AIDS Survivors Create New Class of
Patients (April 6, 2012)
Aging is the new challenge
of the HIV epidemic. With the help of
medication, patients live beyond the sixties.
Older HIV/AIDS patients face unique health
problems, requiring greater research into
finding links between HIV/AIDS and other
diseases brought on by aging, and whether
medications can be mixed.
A
Vision of a Grim Past and a Hopeful Future
(April 6, 2012)
The East New York
Community Health Center has expanded with the
support of a federal grant and various public
funds. The Center is run by Housing Works
which aims to finance the needs of poor people
with HIV and AIDS. Many of their clients are
older people who contracted HIV in the 1980s.
While they have now accepted that they will
live rather than die young, they struggle with
the realities of poverty.
Death
in Slow Motion: New Reality of HIV Emerges as
Victims Live into Older Age (April 5, 2012)
While researchers are
optimistic that antiretroviral treatments will
get better, patients’ quality of life and
health are not assured. With weakened immune
systems, patients are more susceptible to
various diseases and cancers. Living with a
chronic disease or other illness also impacts
patients financially and mentally.
HIV,
AIDS
Cases
Rise
Sharply
for
N.J. Senior Citizens in Recent Years (March
31, 2012)
Statistics provided in
December of 2008 by state health officials
reveal that 1,282 of people 65 and older in
New Jersey are living with HIV/AIDS. In fact,
between 2007 and 2008, the rate of HIV/AIDS in
the state has increased by 17.5 percent.
Caitlyn Flynn, program coordinator of the New
Jersey Women and AIDS Network, believes that
the rise in infections can be attributed to
doctors who are not looking for AIDS symptoms
in the elderly, among other reasons.
Revised
U.S.
Treatment
Guidelines
Focus
on HIV and Aging (March 31, 2012)
Approximately 30 percent
of those living with HIV or AIDS are above the
age of 50; this population will continue to
increase. Though there is very little data and
research done on aging and HIV, it is clear
that age-specific guidelines are needed since
older patients face more complex health
issues. The US Department of Health and
Services has added a section ‘HIV and the
Older Patient’ to the guidelines on
antiretroviral treatments. Another issue is
that older people are perceived to be at low
risk, thus screening for HIV remains low in
this population.
Author
with Unusual Experiences Encourages Gay Men to
Embrace Aging, All that It Comes With (March
20, 2012)
Robert Levithan was
diagnosed with HIV in 1984 but has survived
AIDS, thrived, and is now approaching age 60.
In his new book, “The New 60,” he shares how
he is aging with vitality and grace. He
describes “The New 60” as a book about aging
in the 21st century.
Nicaragua: For
the First Time in Nicaragua, Elders Given
HIV Tests (March 16, 2012)
(Article in Spanish)
For
the first time in the history of the country,
Nicaraguan authorities and non-governmental
agencies collaborated on testing people 60
years and older for the HIV virus. The
national government finds that the spread of
the illness could be a problem in the
country’s development. Carmen Olivares, the
Coordinator for Prevention in Nicaragua’s
Ministry of the Family, says that seniors
belong to a culture unaccustomed to the use of
protection, and as such are more vulnerable to
the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Gay,
African-American,
HIV Positive and Growing Old, Man Says, ‘I
Just Chose to Live’ (March 6, 2012)
According to a University
of Washington School of Social Work survey,
half of all Americans living with HIV will be
50 or older by 2015. About 15 percent of
new infections and almost a third of those
living with HIV are 50 or older. Many
HIV-positive gay older men live in isolation
or keep their illness secret due to earlier
discrimination against homosexuals.
HIV-positive gays are more likely to be abused
at home and to be depressed. In addition, gay
HIV-positive black men have to deal with
racism.
World:
Senior Citizens Living with HIV Sidelined
(March 6, 2012)
Old people are sexually
active, too, and an HIV diagnosis at a younger
age is no longer a death sentence. Zimbabwe
only collects statistics on HIV for males up
to 55 and females up to 49, as they regard
people over those age categories to be
sexually inactive. Dr. George Schmidt from the
WHO HIV and Aids Department said few surveys
included people above 50 years of age, but
those that do showed a high prevalence of HIV
among older people, who are also shown to be
less likely to practice safe sex.
Zimbabwe:
Elderly Caregivers – Unsung Heroes (March 5,
2012)
HIV and AIDS have taken
physical, financial, and mental tolls on the
elderly. In the past, parents educated their
children and their children in turn to care
for their parents in old age. HIV and AIDS
have changed family structures and the old
social model as well. AIDS deaths are most
prevalent in the 20 to 50 age group, leaving
elderly grandparents to care for orphaned
children. Seventy percent of caregivers to
children orphaned by HIV are 60 or older.
Kenya:
At 75, HIV Woman Lives Depressing Life
(February 13, 2012)
Elizabeth Wanjiku lives
alone in a slum, bed-ridden, without food and
care, and under a leaking roof. She is not
unique among the elderly in Kenya. Although
the government set up a Social Protection Cash
Transfer Fund for the elderly in 2009, people
like Wanjiku have not benefitted. The Director
of Amnesty International in Kenya comments
that these people do not know where to go for
help and so the government does not exist for
them.
$1M
Donation for AIDS Research Highlights Steve
Chase Humanitarian Awards (February 12, 2012)
Annette Bloch donated $1
million to the Desert AIDS Project. While AIDS
is no longer a death sentence, long-term
survivors may succumb to secondary infections
even as the original virus is under control.
Older AIDS patients are more susceptible to
cancers of the lung, anus, liver, colon and
testes. Two-thirds of Desert AIDS Project
clients are aged 45 to 64. Desert AIDS Project
will fund two projects with the $1 million
donation: a clinical trial of a new drug to
treat Hepatitis C and research in the area of
anal cancer.
World:
HIV/AIDS:
Bold
New
Goal
for
2020
Set at UN AIDS Summit (June 13, 2011)
UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon announced a global commitment to
eradicate AIDS by 2020. However, funding,
accessible treatment, sexual practices and
women's rights remain critical to the overall
success of the HIV and AIDS response
verbalized at the UNAIDS Summit.
World:
Thirty Years of HIV (June 3, 2011)
It has been three decades
since the first HIV case was reported.
According to an UNAIDS report, the global rate
of new HIV infections decreased by nearly 25
percent between 2001 and 2009. In addition;
the number of people receiving antiretroviral
treatment increased approximately 22-fold
between 2001 and 2010. Furthermore, the
percentage of countries with programs to
address discrimination and stigma attached to
HIV/AIDS increased from 39 percent to 92
percent in 2010. However, there are countries
that still impose some restrictions on those
living with HIV.
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