HIV/AIDS groups in Pennsylvania are creating awareness campaigns for older adults, reports The Patriot-News, a newspaper in the state capital of Harrisburg (pennlive.com, 3/17).
The AIDS Planning Coalition of South Central Pennsylvania has published a brochure that says, “HIV/AIDS is ageless.” The coalition says it plans to distribute the brochures in doctors’ offices and senior centers. Another program, the Hamilton HOPE program, is also working in senior centers across the state to increase awareness about the risk of contracting HIV.
The Patriot-News points out that people over the age of 50 accounted for 19 percent of all new AIDS cases in 2005, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is largely due to misperceptions that older adults aren’t vulnerable to HIV and new sexual enhancement drugs that are prolonging older adults’ sex lives.
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Mark, Aztec, 2008-03-27 10:09:29
It's about time. For some reason the government and society in general seem to think only young people have sex or are at risk. This is long overdue.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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