HIV and Long Lives: A global prevention programme

About

While an HIV diagnosis was an almost certain death sentence when the virus was first discovered, more and more of people are now living longer with HIV. Around the world when HIV was first discovered, a positive diagnosis was met with discrimination, homophobia and racism. 

Since then, we have seen great strides in awareness and prevention: there’s wider access to treatment and testing for the virus, and a decrease in the stigma and discrimination attached to a positive diagnosis. But there are gaps in HIV prevention, including access to testing and treatment. Still today, the intersectionality of race, sexuality, gender, age or socioeconomic status can also all play a role in the levels of stigma HIV positive individuals face, and how easy it is to access care.  

In 2020, 8.1 million people over the age of 50 were HIV positive. Not only are developed countries slower in their HIV response than developing countries, but their populations are also older which brings new challenges to ensure the HIV burden doesn’t go unchecked. Previous research has shown challenges with comorbidities, polypharmacy, medicine burden and lower quality of life are all heightened for older HIV positive individuals. 

Through this programme work, we’ll be using our Health Ageing and Prevention Index and new research to demonstrate the case for improving access to treatments and combatting stigma about HIV, particularly for older adults. We are analysing: 

• HIV prevalence and mortality rates over time 
• The economic impact of HIV on the broader economy 
• The health and social impact of ageing with HIV 

This project has been supported by Gilead.