{
  "id": 3194011,
  "title": "Africa: Ageing With HIV - Global Report Highlights the Need to Prepare Health Systems",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/africa-ageing-with-hiv-global-report-highlights-the-need-to-prepare",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-25T05:06:47.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "AllAfrica Health",
    "slug": "allafrica-health",
    "url": "https://allafrica.com/stories/202608250048.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Lancet HIV Commission's 2026 report highlights the rapid change within the global HIV epidemic. In 2025, an estimated 11.5 million (29%) people living with HIV were aged 50 and over, projected to rise to 20.2 million by 2040 - accounting for over half (51%) of all people living with HIV. Crucially, 96% of those affected will reside in low- and middle-income countries, with Sub-Saharan Africa bearing the greatest burden. The success of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has enabled millions to live longer, but the challenge now lies in ensuring they age well, maintaining good health, independence, and quality of life.\n\nMany older adults are acquiring HIV and being diagnosed later in life, yet prevention and testing campaigns predominantly target younger individuals. Older adults are often assumed to be at low risk due to the misconception that they are no longer sexually active, leading to fewer discussions about sexual health, reduced likelihood of testing, and limited prevention options like PrEP. Moreover, older people may not identify with HIV messaging directed at younger individuals, contributing to delayed diagnosis, treatment, and discrimination within healthcare services.\n\nA recent Lancet Healthy Longevity study, using data from the Africa Wits-Indepth Partnership for Genomic Research (AWI-Gen), conducted on over 7,000 adults aged 40 and older in Kenya and South Africa, reinforces the Lancet Commission's message. The study reveals that older adults are not a uniform population; their HIV risk is influenced by gender, education, socioeconomic circumstances, and place. Widowed women had the highest HIV prevalence at 30.8%, likely due to economic insecurity and persistent gender inequalities.\n\nStigma and ageism compound the problem, making diagnosis in later life feel especially shameful and affecting testing, disclosure, mental health, and continued care engagement. The Lancet Commission supports these findings, calling for tailored HIV prevention and screening for this age group and recognizing the need for thoughtful screening and management of age-related comorbidities. It also emphasizes the integration of HIV services with general public health services and acknowledges the importance of considering physiological rather than chronological age, functional ability, polypharmacy, and individual needs when providing care.\n\nHealth systems must adapt to these new circumstances, bringing together HIV, chronic disease, and healthy-ageing services. HIV testing should be available through chronic disease services, and HIV care should routinely address noncommunicable diseases and mental health. The international value of this evidence is clear, as most knowledge about ageing with HIV has come from wealthier settings, while the majority of older adults living with HIV now reside in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.",
  "summary": "[The Conversation Africa] The Lancet HIV Commission on Ageing's 2026 report highlights how profoundly the global HIV epidemic is changing.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Medical Xpress",
        "title": "Aging with HIV: Global report highlights the need to prepare health systems",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/aging-with-hiv-global-report-highlights-the-need-to-prepare-health",
        "published": "2026-08-24T17:20:07.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}