Despite international recognition of the need to halt the increasing HIV and
AIDS pandemic and to deliver universal access to treatment, care and prevention
by 2010, older people’s susceptibility to the disease and the need for
them to be included in HIV and AIDS strategies is not forthcoming.
Latest UNAIDS figures estimate that the number of people over 50 who are living
with HIV is 2.8 million, which is 7 per cent of all those living with the disease.
However, data on infection rates is only collected for country comparisons on
women and men aged 15-49, so the spread of HIV among older age groups continues
to go undetected and unreported. HelpAge International believes that this approach
continues to convey an ambiguous and discriminatory message to programme implementers
and policy makers.
Sixty-two year old, Dorothy Mdlela lives in Durban, South Africa. For the last
year she has been HIV positive and cared for at home by her daughter and granddaughter.
Two of her children passed away from AIDS related illnesses two years ago.
Dorothy was their full-time carer and believes the virus may have been transmitted
while caring for them because she did not understand enough about HIV and how
to protect herself from infection.
“Not long after my daughters died I started to feel ill, “explains
Dorothy. “A local non-government organisation, the Muthande Society for
the Aged, that works with older people suggested I go for a test.
“Clinic staff were reluctant to test me because they didn’t think
older people like myself were at risk, but the results came back positive. I
have accepted the disease as it is there and I can’t do anything about
it.”
Thembekile Hlubi, Head of MUSA says: “It’s unbelievable that age
discrimination is so widespread and institutionalised. Excluding older men and
women like Dorothy from HIV and AIDS programmes has led many older people to
believe that there is no treatment or support for them. It’s not too late
for Dorothy to access ARVs but how many men and women over 50 have given up
hope because service providers and policy makers are ignoring their rights?”
MUSA works with older people in seven townships in Durban as part of it’s
HIV and AIDS programme in order to combat age-discrimination. In the last year
MUSA has targeted information and training on HIV transmission and access to
services to 3,000 older people who are both infected with HIV, and affected
by the pandemic as carers of people living with HIV and AIDS, and of orphans.
MUSA also recognises the universal cultural taboo of older women and men receiving
sexual related information from younger people. The organisation has trained
250 older peer educators and counsellors to raise awareness about HIV amongst
older people and their families.
On World AIDS day, HelpAge International is calling on international governments
and organisations to recognise and include older people in HIV and AIDS strategies
and programmes, otherwise it warns the number of older people living with HIV
will increase.
HelpAge International is a global network of not-for-profit organisations
with a mission to work with and for disadvantaged older people worldwide to
achieve a lasting improvement in the quality of their lives. Help the Aged provides
funding to HelpAge International, and is a leading partner in this network.
For more information log onto www.helpage.org
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