NGO Forum on Ageing 5-9 April 2002

MECHANISMS FOR THE ELDERLY POOR PEOPLE AFFECTED BY HIV/AIDS TO FACE THE ILLNESS

HELP AGE INTERNATIONAL
NGO Forum on Ageing, April 7, 2002

A hard reality

The presence of the HIV/AIDS has social, economic, psychological consequences, mostly for the elderly, since it destroys their hopes for the future and sometimes it means additional burdens. Help Age International, an organization network that works to make the rights of the elderly be heard and is responsible for this round table, shows the importance of investigating the effects of the virus on the elderly, both as a risk factor and assistance. A lot of families reach s o m e t i m e s unexpected limits.

This is the case of a Thai elderly man who, in less than 2 years lost his son, his daughter-in- law and his little granddaughter. His experience says that it was more difficult to take care of his granddaughter than of her parents, specially because of the rejection she suffered at her school. When years passed by and he had recovered his emotional strength he began to visit families with ill relatives, “ I thought it would be good for them to have support. I would have liked to have that in the hard moments”.. “ When I go to the houses I say that I am HIV positive because I give confidence to the people. But you realize at the end that people do not know very much about this problem”, said Papallo Allen, who is HIV positive. Among her programs we can highlight the training in different sectors, and advice to grandparents with young relatives affected by the virus on how they should face the situation.