There was a time when the terms “HIV” and “aging” didn’t go together at all. Now, as effective treatments give people living with HIV a normal life expectancy, those terms do — but aging with HIV raises its own set of issues.
With Monday marking National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day, activists are drawing attention to some of those issues. Some HIV specialists lack knowledge about the health consequences of aging, and specialists in aging often aren’t well-versed regarding HIV. Medical providers sometimes aren’t aware of how HIV drugs interact with those prescribed for diseases that come with age.
“We’re a little siloed, and we really need to be talking with each other,” says Terri Wilder, HIV/aging policy advocate at SAGE: Advocacy and Services for LGBTQ+ Elders.
One of the things that needs to be talked about is that many older people are living with HIV or are at risk of contracting the virus. In 2021, the latest year for which data is available, people over age 50 accounted for 53 percent of people living with HIV in the U.S. By 2030, that proportion may be as high as 70 percent. [..]
Click here to read the full piece. This story was originally published by Advocate on September 18, 2023.
