Abstract
The chapters in this volume highlight numerous challenges for people growing older with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. These challenges include high rates of comorbidities, the legacy of an HIV diagnosis when facing current health challenges, lack of attention to sexual health, burdens faced by grandparents with HIV caring for grandchildren, a strained social care system, inadequate income support, and the fragmentation of health service delivery. The situation of older people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa is emblematic of a largely inadequate economic and social care infrastructure for older people in this region in general, a situation that did not arise by accident but by deliberate political and policy choices that have left the needs of older Africans unmet. This situation arose from the legacy of colonialism and the continued exploitation of the African continent by high-income countries, as well as the government agencies, charities, and nongovernmental organizations that constitute AIDS international. To address these severe policy and programmatic deficiencies, a fresh approach is needed that enlists local stakeholders in challenging the political economy of sub-Saharan Africa. This is the only feasible manner of enacting meaningful and sustainable change to support growing older in this region, with or without HIV.
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Finkelstein, R.K., Gonsalves, G.S., Brennan-Ing, M. (2022). Beyond Policy Fixes to a New Politics of Care: The Case of Older People Living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Brennan-Ing, M., Porter, K.E., Kaufman, J.E., MacPhail, C., Seeley, J. (eds) Aging with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96368-2_10
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