The Graying of AIDS

Stories From An Aging Pandemic

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Phumzile, age 52 / Johannesburg, South Africa

June 5, 2018 by admin

We need to remember that HIV is a justice issue. If we don’t deal with the structural injustices, people will continue being vulnerable to HIV and AIDS. The religious community has a responsibility to spread positive messages and if we still have negative messages within our religious contexts, I believe that those messages […]

Categories: Africa, Age 50-54, Female • Tags: advocacy, anger, arthritis, body image, caregiving, Caring for Older Adults, children/parenthood, dating, death/dying, depression, diabetes, dignity/respect, doctor/patient relationship, employment/retirement, exercise/fitness, faith/spirituality, family, finances, helping others, HIV/AIDS education, human rights, intergenerational, justice, life experience/age as an asset, married/life partner(s), menopause, positive outlook, pre/post-test counseling, sex/sexuality, side effects, South Africa, stigma, stress, support, treatement access, weight, Women & Girls

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Sebastian, age 65 / Harare, Zimbabwe

December 3, 2017 by admin

I remember it was about 15 years ago. I was constantly sick and I didn’t know what was wrong with me. When I was hospitalized for the last time, when I was very, very ill, it was a teaching hospital. A group of students surrounded me and they were asked by a senior doctor […]

Categories: Africa, Age 65-69, Male • Tags: advocacy, ageism, burial, caregiving, Caring for Older Adults, children/parenthood, cost of treatment, death/dying, dignity/respect, disclosure, doctor/patient relationship, family, grandchildren, helping others, HIV/AIDS education, HIV/AIDS myths, intergenerational, life experience/age as an asset, married/life partner(s), moving home, pre/post-test counseling, rural health, stigma, stress, support groups, treatment access, Zimbabwe

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Ron, age 50 / District of Columbia, USA

December 2, 2017 by admin

I was a closeted gay man working in international development. I had been a Peace Corps volunteer and was going to school for public health, but taking short contracts to pay for school. I was living and working in Mali, in West Africa. This was the year 1994. I needed to have […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Male, North America • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, clinical trials, co-morbidities, death/dying, employment/retirement, faith/spirituality, family, finances, gratitude, grief/loss, Healthcare access, intergenerational, Kaposi sarcoma, long-range thinking, long-term survivors, Mali, meditation, NGOs, opportunistic infections, positive outlook, pre/post-test counseling, privilege, stigma, support, treatment access, United States, working in HIV/AIDS community

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Proscovia, age 55 / Tororo, Uganda

December 1, 2017 by admin

For a long time, I have been working with the media. I have been writing my stories, and that’s how I’ve been getting support. That has allowed me to be what I am today. I trained as teacher, and so at a teacher’s college I was taking charge of adolescent youth, and that was […]

Categories: Africa, Age 55-59, Female • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, caregiving, children/parenthood, class, Corruption, dating, disclosure, domestic violence, employment discrimination, employment/retirement, faith/spirituality, family, finances, grandchildren, helping others, Housing, inheritance/wills, intergenerational, isolation, married/life partner(s), NGOs, nutrition, opportunistic infections, pre/post-test counseling, side effects, stigma, stress, support, treatment access, treatment adherence, Uganda, Viral load/”undetectable”, World AIDS Day

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Susan, age 54 / New York, USA

June 19, 2017 by admin

I guess I don’t even think about it too much anymore. In the first few years? Like, almost 24/7, it was something that was on my mind: am I gonna be around for my kids? I didn’t even think about grandkids at that time. And I always worried that my daughter would […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Female, North America • Tags: advocacy, anger, cancer, caregiving, CD4 count, children/parenthood, death/dying, disclosure, employment/retirement, family, grandchildren, helping others, HIV/AIDS education, intergenerational, isolation, life experience/age as an asset, married/life partner(s), mother-to-child transmission, nutrition, positive outlook, stress, stroke, support, United States, Women & Girls, working in HIV/AIDS community

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Jesse, age 59 / Ellicot City, Maryland, USA

June 9, 2017 by admin

I was aware that I was likely positive. My late partner died of AIDS in 1985, and I am very certain that I had a transmission in about September of 1982 because I had a sexual encounter with my partner and the immediate biological response was a classic transmission response. And those symptoms were […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Male, North America • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, AZT/pre-"cocktail" medications, caregiving, Caring for Older Adults, coordinated care, death/dying, doctor/patient relationship, drug interactions, employment discrimination, faith/spirituality, family, finances, gratitude, heart health, HIV & the law, kidney health, long-range thinking, long-term survivors, married/life partner, personalized treatment, polypharmacy, serodiscordant couple, Social Security/Medicare, support, United States

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Rick, age 60 / Pretoria, South Africa

June 8, 2017 by admin

Originally I was from Scotland. I’ve been in South Africa now for 36 years. I think I befriended my little virus in South Africa – that’s 30 years ago. AIDS in South Africa in that time was very different to what it is now. It was bad. I worked with an organization who […]

Categories: Africa, Age 60-64, Europe, Male • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, cancer, caregiving, coping, dating, death/dying, disclosure, employment/retirement, family, grief/loss, married/life partner, opportunistic infections, PCP, positive outlook, Scotland, South Africa, support groups, thrombosis/blood clot, weight, working in HIV/AIDS community

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Kim, age 59/Melbourne, Australia

June 7, 2017 by admin

I first learned I was positive in 1994. I was unwell and went to a friend of mine who was my doctor as well, and he just threw every test at me possible, and a couple of weeks later he hadn’t got back to me, so I rang him. I just happened to be […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Asia-Pacific, Female • Tags: advocacy, Art/creativity, Australia, caregiving, children/parenthood, doctor/patient relationship, family, helping others, HIV/AIDS community dynamics, HIV/AIDS education, pre/post-test counseling, stigma, Women & Girls, working in HIV/AIDS community

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Nomampondo, age 52 / Johannesburg, South Africa

December 2, 2016 by admin

At least be there for the mothers! I always tell my daughter that she saw me struggling in front of her, bringing them up as a single parent. She has to be there for their mother– for her kids as well. We were the faces of AIDS in the beginning, during those difficult […]

Categories: Africa, Age 50-54, Female • Tags: advocacy, ageism, caregiving, confidentiality, death/dying, disclosure, doctor/patient relationship, employment discrimination, family, guilt, memory/brain health, Neuropathy, night sweats, polypharmacy, shingles, side effects, South Africa, stigma, TB, treatment access

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JP, age 52 /Namibia and Vattholma, Sweden

December 1, 2016 by admin

My partner at the time was having problems with his eyes. I had been speaking to him for some time about getting tested together. I said to him, “It’s time, now. I’m not suggesting any more – it’s time.” When he tested positive, I said, “Forget the test. Just do my CD4 count.” But they […]

Categories: Africa, Age 50-54, Europe, Male • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, CD4 count, clinical trials, death/dying, faith/spirituality, kidney health, liver health, married/life partner(s), medication, Namibia, personalized treatment, side effects, Sweden, treatment access, Viral load/”undetectable”, working in HIV/AIDS community

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Luwiza, age 51 / Lusaka, Zambia

December 1, 2014 by admin

Despite the health personnel saying that, “You isolate her,” my sister was there for me. My mother was there. Would sleep in the same room. My sister would be next to me on the same bed, you know. And that helped a lot. Because when your close relatives neglect you: Oooh! That is the worst […]

Categories: Africa, Age 50-54, Female • Tags: ACTIVISM, advocacy, children/parenthood, cost of treatment, employment/retirement, exercise/fitness, faith/spirituality, family, grandchildren, helping others, HIV/AIDS myths, keeping busy, NGOs, stigma, support, treatment access, Zambia

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Art, age 62 / Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation, Anishnawbe / Toronto, Canada

December 1, 2014 by admin

I’m 62 now, but I came out when I was 26. So it was quite late. And back then, being out was not– it was sometimes, in the aboriginal communities, you might bring shame to the family, to the community, by announcing. But when I came out, then it was no going back. And I […]

Categories: Age 60-64, North America, Trans / Non-Binary / Two-Spirit • Tags: Aboriginal/Indigenous/First Nations, advocacy, Canada, discrimination, family, support

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