December 2004

NJ Holds Summit on HIV Over 50

In October, HIV/AIDS experts, social scientists, gerontologists, and people living with HIV/AIDS met to discuss the growing number of cases in New Jerseyites over 50. The number has increased more than six-fold in 10 years, from 1,051 in 1992 to 6,534 in 2002. Of these, close to a third were not diagnosed until after they were 50. Those attending the New Jersey Summit on HIV/AIDS and Aging discussed the problems of diagnosing HIV/AIDS in older people because symptoms can so easily be confused with those of other diseases and because both patients and physicians find it difficult to discuss high-risk behaviors like injection drug use or unprotected sex. As with other groups throughout the United States, the virus disproportionately attacks African-American and Latino people.