Elderly people looking after grandchildren who have lost their parents to HIV-Aids are at risk of contracting the disease.
With older people increasingly falling victim to sexual abuse, they also run the risk of contracting the disease from the perpetrators
The shocking findings are contained in a South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) report released in Johannesburg yesterday.
The Investigative Hearing Report on the Treatment of Older Persons revealed that HIV-Aids is spreading among older persons.
Commission chief executive Lindiwe Khumalo said: "Older persons are increasingly becoming the primary caregivers of the younger members of the family. That in itself places a burden on them physically but they also become exposed to the possibility of themselves contracting the disease if they are not properly protected and trained.
"The sexual needs of older persons do not form part of mainstream sex education, nor are they considered when information about the disease is disseminated generally, even though so many of them are responsible for the care of orphans whose parents have fallen victim to the disease," reads the report.
"Older persons are not included in routine HIV-Aids screening, counselling or therapeutic protocols in the public healthcare sector.
"More disturbing, however, is the sexual abuse suffered by older persons due to their vulnerability, which directly affects their risk of contracting the disease," it adds.
The report found that many older people are "often abandoned at health facilities and left to fend for themselves once they have been discharged".
It also revealed that there were only eight state-run old age homes in the country.
Older people who are unable to get into government facilities are forced to seek shelter at unregistered facilities that are out to "make a quick buck", some become victims of abuse at the hands of their family members or they are placed at inadequately funded NGOs.
Asked why there were only eight state-run facilities, welfare division chief director at the Department of Social Development Jackie Mbonambi said the department was funding NGOs to run such facilities. There are 410 old age homes that are run by NGOs, according to the report.
But the organisations complain of funding woes.
macupeb@sowetan.co.za
Elderly aids shock - rise in abuse of aged puts them more at risk
Elderly people looking after grandchildren who have lost their parents to HIV-Aids are at risk of contracting the disease.
With older people increasingly falling victim to sexual abuse, they also run the risk of contracting the disease from the perpetrators
The shocking findings are contained in a South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) report released in Johannesburg yesterday.
The Investigative Hearing Report on the Treatment of Older Persons revealed that HIV-Aids is spreading among older persons.
Commission chief executive Lindiwe Khumalo said: "Older persons are increasingly becoming the primary caregivers of the younger members of the family. That in itself places a burden on them physically but they also become exposed to the possibility of themselves contracting the disease if they are not properly protected and trained.
"The sexual needs of older persons do not form part of mainstream sex education, nor are they considered when information about the disease is disseminated generally, even though so many of them are responsible for the care of orphans whose parents have fallen victim to the disease," reads the report.
"Older persons are not included in routine HIV-Aids screening, counselling or therapeutic protocols in the public healthcare sector.
"More disturbing, however, is the sexual abuse suffered by older persons due to their vulnerability, which directly affects their risk of contracting the disease," it adds.
The report found that many older people are "often abandoned at health facilities and left to fend for themselves once they have been discharged".
It also revealed that there were only eight state-run old age homes in the country.
Older people who are unable to get into government facilities are forced to seek shelter at unregistered facilities that are out to "make a quick buck", some become victims of abuse at the hands of their family members or they are placed at inadequately funded NGOs.
Asked why there were only eight state-run facilities, welfare division chief director at the Department of Social Development Jackie Mbonambi said the department was funding NGOs to run such facilities. There are 410 old age homes that are run by NGOs, according to the report.
But the organisations complain of funding woes.
macupeb@sowetan.co.za
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