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AIDS: On the rise among seniors
By SARAH LARSON
Bucks County Courier Times
17 August 2004
The invention of Viagra may have
given sex lives back to older men and their partners, but it also
may have helped give them something else - AIDS.
The number of senior citizens with HIV or AIDS is growing in Pennsylvania, according to figures from the state Department of Health. And as people with the disease live longer thanks to improved treatment, those ranks will only swell.
The director of the state's AIDS/HIV drug assistance program blames some of that increase on Viagra, the wonder drug that helps men maintain sexual function.
"Really. People think that's a joke but it isn't a joke," said John Folby. "It's given some old guys really frisky hormones. But they're not talking about high-risk behavior."
The problem with the Pfizer-made Viagra isn't the drug itself, Folby said. The market leader, with $1.9 billion in sales last year alone, Viagra is only the most recognized of several drugs to treat impotence.
The real problem, Folby said, is that men who use the drugs, especially older, newly divorced or widowed men re-entering the dating scene, may not think about the risk from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. In 2002, for example, 110 men and 160 women 65 or older were diagnosed with chlamydia, according to Jessica Seiders, spokeswoman for the state health department. The same year, 44 men and 32 women that age were diagnosed with gonorrhea, and 46 seniors were diagnosed with syphilis, Seiders said.
Anyone who thinks age is a protection against any of those STDs or HIV is creating a false sense of security, said Jane Shull, director of the AIDS service group, Philadelphia FIGHT.
"AIDS was recognized in the U.S. in 1981. If you were 30 then, you're now over 50," Shull said. "When HIV first appeared, it was all these young men dying. So if you get that in your head - that it's only young men - you may feel safe. You don't realize that the 'young men' are 20 or 25 years older. They could be senior citizens now."
Many of them are.
The program Folby has run since 1987 gives out about $39 million worth of free AIDS drugs each year to Pennsylvanians infected with HIV. Of the 5,300 clients enrolled in the program, 27 are age 65 or older, he said. PACE, the state's drug assistance program specifically for seniors, is helping 17 more senior citizens buy AIDS medications, Folby said.
They undoubtedly will be joined by more each year, Folby said.
Since 1980, 112 people in Bucks County were age 50 or older when they were diagnosed with AIDS, and Montgomery County also saw 112 such diagnoses, according to figures from the counties' health departments. That will have an impact on a wide range of senior issues.
"As people with AIDS and HIV live longer, they're going to be creeping into those age brackets," he said. "They'll go from being in their late 50s or early 60s to being 65 and older. Then, they could transition from the AIDS drug program to the Medicare program."
Yet all indications are that senior groups have not given the issue much thought.
A search of the information on AARP's Web site turns up more than 660 matches for "hearing aids" but none for AIDS or HIV. A May 2004 article in the group's online bulletin explores ways for seniors to get more out of their love lives, advising:
? Taking an anti-inflammatory 20 minutes before lovemaking
? For those with arthritis, making love in the morning after a good night's sleep
? "Try chair sex: it's easy on the joints"
Nowhere does it mention condoms, HIV, or any sexually transmitted disease.
Folby charges that AARP, the former American Association of Retired Persons, is ignoring the fact that seniors are infected.
"We have got to speak for the elderly, because even though AARP has encouraged their elderly constituents to be proud that they are still sexually active, they don't say, 'You could be infected,'" Folby said. "We've asked them, 'What are you doing to inform your constituency that they're at risk?' Nothing."
A spokeswoman for AARP Pennsylvania said the lobbying group is aware that the issue is growing.
"It's a brand new health factor for seniors," said Angela Foreshaw. "I'm sure as Americans age, and as HIV becomes a global aging issue, it's certainly an issue we'll keep an eye on."
Foreshaw said AARP's agenda usually is driven by issues seniors themselves say they care about, such as Medicare prescription drug coverage.
"As members let us know what they want to focus on, I'm sure we'll be hearing more about it," she said.
Pennsylvania is second only to Florida in the percentage of senior population, and Folby said the Sunshine State also is facing a growth in older AIDS patients.
"Florida's AIDS drug director and I have been comparing numbers for awhile," he said. "There are whole retirement communities in Florida where the numbers of infected keep creeping up every year. Older people just don't think about it."
Shull believes the aging AIDS patient will lead to financial problems in a few years. Though Folby said the average annual cost of treatment for one patient in his program is $14,500, costs can be much higher.
"What happens when people whose drug bills are $25,000 a year retire, and their employer doesn't cover it any more, and they have to find a way to pay for it?" she asked. "The effect of that is going to have a huge strain on the public systems. We're 15 years away from that, and maybe they'll fix the prescription drug coverage by then, but if they don't, it's going to be a big issue."
Those involved with AIDS every day may have identified that looming problem, but Folby doesn't think the policymakers who budget the money and run the agencies have.
"I would bet you my dog and my house and my car that not one of them has thought about it."
source :-http://www.phillyburbs.com | 
