Ageing with HIV

The Ageing with HIV project by our member the European Aids Treatment Group (EATG) sheds light on challenges that emerge from the increasing number of people living longer with HIV, facing new and poorly understood issues that still require further research and policy dialogue.

Overarching themes identified by all stakeholders include mental health, stigma, and discrimination, especially toward vulnerable populations. Some of the general issues include multi- and co-morbidity, polypharmacy and the need to switch service delivery from a single disease to a holistic model. For adolescents, key concerns include disclosure, family dynamics and the inability for adolescents to access HIV testing, sexual and mental health services, drug treatment and harm reduction and PrEP without parental consent (Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a way for people who do not have HIV but who are at substantial risk of getting it to prevent HIV infection by taking a pill every day). Meanwhile, for people with HIV aged over 50, co-morbidities related to mental health, drug abuse and increased suicide risk seem to be the most pressing issues for research, service delivery and policy dialogue.

In addition to providing a better understanding of this new set of challenging issues, the project highlighted the need to allocate more resources for further consultation and continued funding to allow long-term follow-ups of cohorts ageing with HIV.

Find more information about the project here.