Successful ARV treatment is just one factor that has created a new group of HIV/AIDS patients – the over 50s who face their own distinctive needs and challenges. Recent research shows that “this age group is often left out in HIV care programmes and are not often targeted by prevention programmes.”
The study points out that old age could disguise the symptoms, leaving the disease undetected and untreated as health workers and social services focus their attention on the younger population.
Older people may be suffering from age-related conditions and using other non-HIV medications, which could introduce complications in the use of antiretrovirals.
Furthermore, the stigma and discrimination experienced by older people suffering from HIV and AIDS is greater. The Idasa study used Grandmothers Against Poverty and AIDS, a Cape Town-based NGO, as a case study, describing it as “an inspirational movement that has changed the lives of many. It stands out as a forceful beacon in a society where aging with HIV is taboo.”
The study quotes an older woman with HIV whose community ostracised her and called her a witch when her symptoms became apparent.
Many of GAPA’s members, together with the older generation throughout the region, have been left to care for AIDS orphans. They have become the sole breadwinners in many households, as well as the caretakers of those no longer able to serve as the economically active sector of the population.
“Heterosexual transmission in the older population can be correlated to behaviour change brought on by drugs in the last few decades that treat erectile dysfunction,” says the report. “Older people also use drugs and abuse alcohol which puts them at risk for HIV and STI infection as they engage in risky behaviour such as having unprotected sex and multiple sex partners.”
Furthermore, it is estimated that 16% of all HIV infections in women in South Africa result from domestic violence – and this is not limited to the younger population.
Post published in: Zimbabwe News