Inadequate Data Affecting Flow of Aid to Elderly HIV/AIDS Care Givers
 
By Joyce Bazira, The Guardian

United Kingdom

July 31, 2007

The tragedy of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has drawn an increased level of attention during the past few decades.

One the most troubling aspects of the matter is the fact that the elderly members of the society especially women carry the heaviest burden of taking care of those infected and affected by the disease.

The lack of adequate support or recognition from policy makers and service providers is mainly due to the fact that data and information needed to provide effective responses to the increased vulnerability of affected parties is unavailable.

As part of the on going effort to alleviate the plight of older women who have in their care, HIV patients and dependants Help Age International recently organized a forum of (stakeholders) to brain storm on various modalities of improving the situation at hand.

According to Help Age International, Country Program Director, Mr. Abdul Jetha, availability of accurate data is an important aspect towards improving the social and economic status of HIV AIDS care givers.

He says it is from this reason that the organisation is working with other NGOs and government departments to improve data collection.

Apparently inadequate data on elderly care givers is a worldwide problem as HIV prevalence data (across the world) focuses on the 15-49 age range.

This has distorted the HIV response to the aforementioned age group only, says, Jor Mayer, HIV and AIDS Coordinator at Help Age International in London who also attended the forum.

“Without the facts about where care givers are, how can we possibly expect to reach them with services and resources. It is in this light all service providers and program implements should seriously consider whether they are reaching out to older people,” she said.

She added that care givers should be provided with extra support from existing facilities such as VCT centres.

“Many grandmothers are devastated to have lost one or even all of their children to AIDS and are desperate for their grandchildren to escape the same fate.

Yet they feel depressed because they have little or no information about HIV so cannot communicate effectively to their grandchildren to help protect them” she says.

According to UNAIDS Country Coordinator, Bernadette Olowo-Freers, besides the risks of contacting HIV due to their limited knowledge and lack of materials to protect themselves, the elderly as primary care givers are often traumatized and helpless.

During the discussion, participants pointed out various problems which are a hindrance to obtaining information on this vulnerable section of the community.

Some participants especially those working with government departments pointed out lack of financial capabilities, lack of data system, challenges of information technology and infrastructure problems as some of the things which hamper them from carrying out data collection process effectively.

On the other hand, participants working with NGO`s, pointed out miscommunication among stakeholders and lack of feedback as some of the challenges.

Participants later recommended the need to incorporate older care givers into the existing policy and legal frameworks so that they will address the specific economic, health and psychological needs of older women carers and support them in their care giving roles.

Other recommendations include the need to strengthen collaboration between government, development partners, civil society and communities and all stakeholders to reduce the impact of HIV and AID in Tanzania and particularly among the elderly.

According to Help Age Country Programme Director, Mr. Abdul Jetha, improved data collection will among others, emphasize the inclusion of older women in the ongoing global efforts to realize universal access to HIV prevention, care and treatment services by 2010.

This will pave the way for an efficient identification process of vulnerable groups hence help policy makers understand the scope on the response that is needed and create effective policies and programs.

The consequences of not supporting the care givers and the children are potentially dramatic on Tanzanian society and its economy as estimates put the number of orphans in Tanzania at 1.5 million.

But without a stable start in life these children will have less opportunities to lead an acceptable standard of life and are more likely to be at risk from abuse and HIV infection.

Reports available show, there are more than 34 million orphans in the region today and some 11 million of them are orphaned by AIDS.

Eight out of every 10 children in the world whose parents have died of AIDS live in sub-Saharan Africa . During the last decade, the proportion of children who are orphaned as a result of AIDS rose from 3.5 percent to 32 percent and will continue to increase if the spread of the disease is not contained.

The overall situation has reached alarming proportions partly due to the fact that women have moved from the periphery to the epicentre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa .

It is estimated that over 55 percent of all people living with HIV/AIDS, girls and women are disproportionately affected. Meanwhile, constraints on their access to education and treatment, coupled with their inability to find paid employment, are causing rural households often headed by women to slide further into poverty.

With AIDS-ravaged economies starting to crumble, urgent national strategies are needed to strengthen governmental, community and family capacities and to redouble international cooperation to reverse the tide of this global calamity.

“We`re all struggling to find a viable response, and there are, of course, some superb projects and initiatives in all countries but we can’t seem to take them to scale,” says Stephen Lewis, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa .

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