Sex/uality Artifacts

Hi class! My name is Chelsey Dupler. My artifact was a video called Age, Sex, and HIV which is about a woman named Veronica who is 61 years old and has HIV. She is having trouble receiving medical treatment because she is older and they claim that she should know better than to have unprotected sex and contract HIV. The place that Veronica went only seemed to be concerned with younger people getting help. When in reality the reading The Unexplored Story of HIV and Aging states that older people are going to participate in unprotected sex than younger people (Schmid 2009). This means that people in the older generation are just as likely, if not more to contract STD’s such as HIV. In the reading it states, “There has been a jump from 20% to 25% in 3 years in people who are aged 45-65 years old contracting HIV” (Schmid pg. 459). This means that people who are older deserve just as much of a chance to get medical help because of the large jump of HIV contractions. Not only that but studies show that HIV progresses faster in older people than in younger people (Schmid 2009). With all of this being said, it is important to help older people with HIV because there is a lack of appreciation to them according to the video. Especially because in the reading it discussed that if a 65 years old contracts HIV, without proper treatment, their life expectancy is only about 4 years as a result in the decline in their immunity (Schmid 2009). In the video, Veronica is getting close to 65 years old as she stated she was 61, without adequate treatment (which it does not seem like she is receiving any), her health will decline and so will her life expectancy. Overall, this just shows that older people are really not receiving as much adequate treatment for HIV as younger people are, which they should be able to have access to which relates to the course through the readings. The reading on The Unexplored Story of HIV and Aging was all about how people in their older years are not being looked at as sexual beings and are being dismissed when it comes to their STD’s such as HIV in this case.

The video Age, Sex, and HIV can be viewed here:

Reference: Schmid, G. (2009). Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2009. The Unexplored Story of HIV and Aging.