HIV Rates Rise Over 60% in Over 50′s
England, Northern Ireland and Wales’s HIV infection rate for people over the age of 50 has more than doubled within the past decade. The 299 cases of HIV infection back in 2000 has raised to 710 in 2007 and these figures do not look like slowing down. Surprisingly, this number has increased faster than those in the younger age group.
Health officials have cautioned persons that regardless of their age that these fatal illnesses still exist, therefore, you should practise safe sex at all ages.
A leading researcher, Ruth Smith, has said that almost half the people (over 50) who were diagnosed with HIV had acquired the disease at over 50, and this was not something they had for a while, but only just discovered. She continued by saying that you should always get tested for HIV regardless of your age. Safe sex needs to be constantly on the minds of the masses, not just younger people where HIV campaigns are often aimed. Use of a condom should be foremost whether it is with a new, or a random partner, as condoms are the safest and most secure way of preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Unfortunately, half of the people diagnosed over 50 with the disease were diagnosed too late. If they had constant tests, then the likelihood is it would have been sooner, and has the possibility of being treated. The head of the HIV surveillance department of the HPA, Dr. Valerie Delpech, has stated that HIV is one of the most dangerous and critical infections out there, especially if people are diagnosed too late, and there has been an obvious increase in HIV in older adults.
These results have been mirrored in other countries. Lisa Power, part of an HIV charity group found that the older age range was experiencing a faster growth in diagnoses than other groups. The life expectancy for persons with HIV has been improved, but the earlier HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases are found, the better. There needs to be a greater awareness for testing HIV in the over 50′s age group.
