| |
| |
South
Florida Seniors Advised to Take HIV Tests |
|
|
|
This year on National HIV
Testing Day, south Florida health officials were taking the opportunity to
encourage sexually active people age 50 and older to be tested.
The Broward County Health Department reports that from 1996 to May 2007, 12
percent of new HIV
cases and 15 percent of AIDS cases in the county were among those 50 and
older. This age group accounted for 15 percent of all new HIV cases and 18
percent of AIDS cases in Palm Beach County.
A surge in the number of older Floridians becoming infected prompted the
Broward County Health Department to launch, eight years ago, its Senior HIV
Intervention Project (SHIP), said Donna Sogegian, the administrator who
oversees it. Its testing coordinator and volunteers visit facilities where
large numbers of seniors live.
Many residents say, "'This has nothing to do with me. I was married,'" said
Sogegian. "They believe this happens to young people." The fact that many
seniors married young and had just one partner for most of their lives leads
them to believe they are not at risk of contracting HIV.
Miriam Schuler, a SHIP volunteer, works to challenge such misconceptions:
The 88-year-old presents HIV workshops to seniors two to three times a
month. Belle Greenman, 86, also helps get the word out: "So I would suggest
that you would go and have [an HIV test] and have your gentleman friend have
one too," she recently told a group of seniors at the Jewish Community
Center in Davie.
|
|
|
|
South Florida
Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale) (06.27.07):: Tina Shah |
| |
We are providing the above information as a public
service only. Providing synopses of key scientific articles and lay
media reports on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases
does not constitute endorsement. The above summaries were prepared
without conducting any additional research or investigation into the
facts and statements made in the articles being summarized, and
therefore readers are expressly cautioned against relying on the
validity or invalidity of any statements made in these summaries. This
CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News
Update also includes information from CDC and
other government agencies, such as background on MMWR articles, fact
sheets and announcements. |
|
|
