Over the last decade, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has had devastating economic, social, health and psychological effects on older women and men, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet the impact of HIV/AIDS on older people remains under-reported and has not been properly addressed.

HIV/AIDS places a burden on older people as carers, and also puts them at risk of infection. Many older people provide home-based care for people living with AIDS, but are not directly targeted by prevention and awareness campaigns. They therefore lack knowledge of how to treat the disease and protect themselves against infection.

Older people are also increasingly responsible for caring for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. In sub-Saharan Africa, about 13 million children have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. Many of these orphans now live in grandparent-headed households. Older people have to meet the costs of daily living – providing food and clothes, as well as funding their grandchildren's education.

Aims

The HelpAge International partnership project aims to strengthen community-based organisations and family and community members. It also builds their capacity to better enable them to support older carers of people living with HIV/AIDS, orphans and vulnerable children.

Activities

In the first year, the programme was implemented by 13 HelpAge International partner and affiliate organisations in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The second year has seen the inclusion of Swaziland and Lesotho.

Activities have included:

• Awareness-raising and challenging stigma at a local level. In Kenya, Tanzania, Lesotho, Swaziland and Uganda, participants in community workshops discuss older people’s roles as carers, and the myths and misconceptions about HIV/AIDS and older people. Similar workshops have taken place with burial societies (group saving schemes established to pay for funerals) in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, to explore ways in which they can provide support.
• Awareness-raising activities to promote the inclusion of older people at district, national and regional levels. For example, a workshop for government officials in Kenya highlighted the importance of involving older people in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
• Training older carers. In Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, older carers have received training on home-based care and have been given kits with essential equipment. This continues to be a key activity under the project.
• Supporting schoolchildren. In Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, orphans and other vulnerable children have received school fees, uniforms and educational materials.
• Networking and capacity-building of partners and other stakeholders. A workshop in Kenya covered issues such as reporting, governance, financial systems and programme management. Technical support has been provided to partners in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Achievements

• In South Africa, Uganda and Zambia, older people are gaining greater recognition from governments, and acknowledgement of their needs. In Lusaka, Zambia, older people are now given priority seating on buses.
• As a result of the training, traditional healers – many of them older people – and older carers are able to provide better care for people living with HIV/AIDS, and to protect themselves from infection.
• Older people who have been trained as counsellors are now making home visits to those affected by HIV/AIDS.
• Shelter repair and construction work in Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe has improved living conditions for older people in those countries.
  

Implementing partners

Muthande Society for the Aged, South Africa
HelpAge Kenya
HelpAge Zimbabwe
HelpAge International Ethiopia
HelpAge International Sudan
HelpAge International Tanzania
Maseru Women senior citizens association - Lesotho
Umtfunti Old Age Association - Swaziland
Senior Citizens' Association of Zambia
Uganda Reach the Aged Association