Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Prevention message aimed at over-50 set

By NICOLE HUTCHESON, Times Staff Writer
Published September 3, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Handout] Ann Sherman-White, with the AIDS Service Association of Pinellas, is charged with finding ways to reach that older crowd. She talks about the struggle, and reminds that free testing will be available at Saturday's AIDS Walk in St. Petersburg.

It's been 25 years since doctors began diagnosing AIDS. Then it was thought to be a disease that largely affected gay white men.

These days everyone is at risk.

Still it remains a struggle to convince the public that the face of AIDS has changed, advocates say. The struggle is even more difficult when it comes to people over the age of 50 -- a group that is increasingly becoming infected yet doing little to protect themselves.

Ann Sherman-White, with the AIDS Service Association of Pinellas, is charged with finding ways to reach that older crowd. She talks about the struggle, and reminds that free testing will be available at Saturday's AIDS Walk in St. Petersburg.

The AIDS epidemic marked its 25th anniversary last year. What are the new challenges?

Getting people over the age of 50 or approaching the age of 50 to understand that they are still at risk. If you are still trying to golf, date, and trying to have sex, why wouldn't you be at risk? People tend to think that just because you've gotten to the age of 40 these things just magically disappear.

In 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there were 1,039,987 reported AIDS cases, of which 30 percent were in people over 45. Do you see this getting better or worse?

I see that if people keep burying their head and ignoring it, it's going to continue to get worse. People still think this is a white male gay disease. They still think it's only young people. They still think it's only people that shoot drugs and frequent prostitutes. We still want to believe it's the "not us" factor and we're leaving ourselves wide open for exposure.

What's the reason behind the rising numbers in the 50-plus set?

We're dealing with a generation that traditionally live their sexual lives in secrecy.

How much of the problem is attributed to new cases of people over 50 being infected and how much of this is just better medicine helping people live longer?

Medications are keeping folks alive longer. But you've got to think people are divorcing and re-entering the dating field at 35, 40 and 45 and they're not asking their partners about their past history. They think, "I don't have to worry about health as it relates to sexually transmitted diseases." And let's not leave out Viagra.

Viagra?

Yes, you've got older folks who may not have had the medication to have a happy sex life. Now you've got that thrown in the mix. These medicines that promote a healthier vibrant sex life coupled with ignorance -- that's a lethal combination.

Isn't it true that the majority of elderly people aren't diagnosed until later stages of HIV? Why aren't doctors testing them more?

In many cases that's the last test that's offered to someone over 50. They'll test for everything else -- cancer, diabetes. ... There's still an apprehension about asking a 65-year-old man if he'd like to take a HIV test.

What are you finding to be the most effective way to reach this group?

Getting folks involved that are either retired or near retirement so it's a peer education method. Many of these people are strong members in their church and community. So, maybe they discuss it over lunch, on the golf course, or wherever they gather.

Do you see any signs of success in connecting?

Not at the level it should be. People have no problem saying, "I have cancer." People have no problem saying, "I'm diabetic." But people are real apprehensive about saying, "I have HIV."

if you go

AIDS Walk St. Petersburg 2007 runs from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at North Shore Park, 901 North Shore Drive NE. Registration for the 5K walk starts at 9 a.m. Proceeds benefit clients of AIDS Service Association of Pinellas. Information: www.AIDSWalkStPetersburg.org or (727) 328-3268.

[Last modified September 2, 2007, 22:44:24]