International conference on ageing with HIV

AN INTERNATIONAL conference on living with HIV in old age is to take place at Staffordshire University in conjunction with the Terence Higgins Trust (THT).

Health specialists and service users from around the world will attend the event to share their expertise and knowledge.

Representatives from ACRIA (AIDS Community Research Initiative of America), who carried out a ground breaking cohort study called Research on Older Adults with HIV, and the Terrance Higgins Trust, the largest HIV charity in the UK, among others, will be present.

Caroline Rowe, one of the event organisers and senior lecturer in the Faculty of Health at Staffordshire University, said: “People are now living and ageing with HIV due to the improvements in antiretroviral therapy (ART). Currently, however, in the UK there is little research on ageing and HIV from a health and social care perspective.

“This conference aims to bring together experts in the field from the UK as well as America to share experience, research, policy and practice.

“They will talk about the issues that people with HIV face as they get older as well as raising awareness of the risk of HIV infection amongst the ageing population in the UK.”

At the conference, Maurice Greenham, 68, from Stoke-on-Trent, will be giving his personal account of life with the illness and the challenges he faces.

He said: “With the conference being about HIV and ageing, I wanted to give a personal story of the changes that happen as you get older.

“When I was diagnosed in 1984, there were no treatments for HIV and AIDS, but there have been very big changes since then.

“One thing that does not seem to have changed, however, is stigma. As someone living with HIV, I feel I have the ability to challenge that stigma by speaking openly, giving a human face to an often ‘demonised’ condition.

“Also, I want to raise awareness of the fact that we now have older people living with HIV within the community.”

The International Conference on Ageing with HIV is part of Staffordshire University’s HEalth Factor 2010 series of events. It will take place at Staffordshire University’s Beaconside Campus, Stafford, on Wednesday, April 28.