Martin Adhola And Betty Oyugi
27 September 2004
Nairobi — The world marks the International Old Peoples day today amid the reality of old people in Africa facing the challenge of caring for orphans in the wake of AIDS deaths.
The role of older people in African households has drastically changed since the advent of AIDS.
A study carried out by HelpAge International titled; "The impact of HIV/Aids on Older People in Cambodia,"depicts grandparents as custodians of families after their adult children die.
This scenario is replicated thousands of times over in towns and far-flung villages across Kenya, where HIV/AIDS is converting grandparents into caregivers for orphans who have lost their parents.
However the study also makes the disturbing observation that despite the growing responsibilities shared out to older people as a result of HIV/AIDS, they are typically excluded from ongoing AIDS Programmes.
When they are excluded either as carers or as people "at risk" group, older people seldom have access to information about HIV/AIDS, which comprises their ability to protect themselves and those they care for.
Older People are key to survival of children and those that are sick from HIV/Aids.
"Older people continue to care for their sick adult children and yet this is seldom acknowledged," said the chair of HelpAge-Kenya, Mrs Pamela Mboya. "They exhaust the little resources they have in search of a cure while they themselves are in need support."
Mrs Mboya observed with concern that the despite the steady increase in the numbers of older people having to deal with the consequences of HIV/AIDS in their families, no new measures and change of attitude had been adopted.
The elderly constitute five per cent of the word's population and in Africa alone, there are 42 million older people aged 60 years and above. It is believed that by 2050, the population worlwide shall be 2 billion.
Job Ochieng, HelpAge-Kenya's Programme Coordinator said Kenya's population aged over 60 is estimated at 1.2 million or four percent of the total population. This is projected to increase to 1.8 million by the 2008. Currently life expectancy among Kenyan women is 49.9 years and 48.7 years among men.
The greatest challenge that Old People face is the gap left by other population groups in providing care and support to other family members.
AIDS deaths cause social distress, leaving behind old people who were financially dependent on the deceased and emotionally dependent grandchildren.
More than seven million children in Africahave lost their mothers or both parents to AIDS; in one African country in 1997, 11 percent of children were orphans.
These deaths weaken and destroy the extended family networks that have traditionally dealt with bereavement. The stigma attached to the disease reduces the willingness of other family members to assist orphans and grandparents.
According to a joint report released by UNAIDS, UNFPA, and UNIFEM, titled Women and HIV/AIDS: Confronting the Crisis, lists studies in South Africa where a majority of caregivers are women in their 60's.
"A recent study in South Africa found out that two thirds of caregivers in the households surveyed were female, with almost a quarter of them over the age of 60," said the report.
A WHO report, "Impact of AIDS on older people" launched in 2002, found out that the burden of AIDS on older people was on the increase while home-based and orphan care placed an enormous burden on older relatives, mostly women. The report noted that this care was provided within a context of decreased economic means, stigma, witchcraft accusations and other challenges they faced in their old age.
The study calls for practical and sustainable approaches that will improve the capacity of older people to enable them continue providing this important role.
In countries like Zimbabwe, WHO is conducting a study to identify barriers that prevent older people from providing adequate and fulfilling care to their children dying from HIV/AIDS and, subsequently, to their orphaned grandchildren.
The outcome of this will be the development of policies and programmes that would sustain older people as key assets in the care of the terminally ill patients and children orphaned by AIDS.
In Kenya, the Minister of State in the Office of the Vice President Mrs.
Linah Chebii Kilimo says that the government is working on a policy on the orphan situation in the country that has reached the 1.8 million mark.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2004 African Woman and Child Feature Service. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
