Although promising news has come out of this year's International AIDS Conference, which ended on July 27, some unsettling statistics have also surfaced. Among them is an aging HIV poz population.
According to Jon Cohen of Science Magazine, half the people who are infected in the US are going to be over 50 by 2020. This is a sign that ARVs are working and poz people are living longer lives. However, as Cohen asks: "What happens when you get to be 50, 60, 70, and you start adding pills for all sorts of things? It makes it even harder to take your antiretroviral medications."
The epidemic continues to shift in the United States. Where concentrations were once focused on white, urban gay men, efforts are now being directed toward young Black men in the South. Yet, as populations age, additional attention will need to be given to older Americans.
"Believe it or not," Cohen says. "People over 50 still have sex."
According to Jon Cohen of Science Magazine, half the people who are infected in the US are going to be over 50 by 2020. This is a sign that ARVs are working and poz people are living longer lives. However, as Cohen asks: "What happens when you get to be 50, 60, 70, and you start adding pills for all sorts of things? It makes it even harder to take your antiretroviral medications."
The epidemic continues to shift in the United States. Where concentrations were once focused on white, urban gay men, efforts are now being directed toward young Black men in the South. Yet, as populations age, additional attention will need to be given to older Americans.
"Believe it or not," Cohen says. "People over 50 still have sex."
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