CCO Infectious Disease Podcast

Finding Our Voices: Older Women With HIV in Resource-Limited Settings

Episode Summary

Listen to Dorothy Onyango, an older woman with HIV in Kenya, speak to the many barriers encountered by aging patients with HIV, especially women, in resource-limited settings and potential solutions to encourage good health and wellness for this key population.

Episode Notes

In this episode, listen to Dorothy Onyango, patient and patient activist, share her views on the many barriers encountered by aging patients with HIV living in resource-limited settings and the need to work on solutions to overcome such barriers, including:

• The major burden of poverty affecting access to care/medications, healthcare services (eg, treatment for noncommunicable diseases, home-based care), and social support
• The added social obstructions to HIV care for older women (eg, sexual reproductive health rights)
• Potential solutions to support the aging population with HIV to encourage good health and wellness such as:
  • Self-advocacy to provide a voice for patients, especially women
  • A comprehensive public health response
  • Policy changes, including a budget line in the national budget, to ensure the rights of older people
  • AIDS-friendly prevention initiatives (eg, affordable/accessible condoms)
  • Income-generating activities to help older patients with HIV become economically sound

Faculty:

Dorothy Onyango
Chief Executive Officer
Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya
Founding Member, International Community of Women Living With HIV
Former Chair, Pan African Women’s Coalition
Former Board Member, Kenya National AIDS Council
Nairobi, Kenya

Link to full program:
https://bit.ly/3yIkntc