By Christina Pisano

Nearly one-third of people in the United States who are living with HIV are over age 50, according to a report on the virus among older adults released today by the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC).

“Baby boomers are aging into older adulthood,” said Marjorie Hill, CEO of GMHC. “People with HIV are living longer due to anti-retrovirals, and 17 percent of new HIV infections occur among people over the age of 50.”

While the life expectancy of HIV-infected people has increased as a result of anti-retroviral therapy, little is known about the way HIV and aging interact. For a growing population of adults infected with the disease, the onset of other health conditions is a growing concern.

“The process of aging includes the development of multiple medical conditions such as cancer,” said Sean Cahill, managing director of Public Policy. “In the coming years, research must address how these diseases, and the medications that treat them, interact with HIV and HIV treatment.”

Service providers do not focus on the issue of HIV among older persons, leaving sexually active adults vulnerable to infection and lacking appropriate knowledge.

“After I was diagnosed with HIV, my family served me on paper plates because they were so afraid of getting it,” said Lillibeth Gonzalez of GMHC. “There is a lack of education about the disease in addition to the dual stigma of HIV and age.”

Ed Shaw, 69, is chairman of the New York Association of HIV over 50 and was diagnosed with HIV in 1988 at 47. For Shaw, living with HIV brought new health challenges, intense stigma, discrimination and fear.

“I lived for five years in denial,” said Shaw. “I continued to engage in illicit drug use and promiscuous behavior because of the lack of information. Never did I think in my wildest dreams that I would live to see this day.”