Life expectancy for people with HIV has increased rapidly thanks to advances in treatment, but the increasing age of people with this infection poses a challenge to health systems around the world. HIV infection has become, in many ways, and for most people living with HIV, a chronic illness. The health system must adapt to different needs.
Therefore, aging with quality of life is one of the goals to be achieved by many people living with the virus. And it is that the average age of people living with HIV is now over 50 years oldwhich in turn leads these people to face aging with the virus.
Precisely, and regarding the chronicity of the disease that is today HIV, the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, commented during the Seisida National Congress, held just over a month ago, that This fact “poses new challenges for usrelated to the longevity of people with HIV and the various factors that impact their quality of life”.
In this sense, and according to experts, they are needs more coordination and the participation of primary care, both medical and nursing, but also professionals related to neuropsychiatric comorbidities, social services and citizen organizations, to work on chronicity management seeking the best quality. Unfortunately, we have saturated healthcare systems, especially in primary care.
At the same time, for professionals It is essential to remember the concept of “undetectable equals untransmittable”, or what is the same, that people with HIV on treatment with an undetectable viral load cannot transmit the infection to other people. However, to reduce transmission, a combination of factors is needed: universal treatment of all people with HIV, early diagnosis and immediate access to treatment. The emotional and psychological aspect also gains weight in your approach.
According to the latest published data on the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Spain, from its beginning until June 30, 2021, a total of 88,684 cases of AIDS were reported, the majority of which were male and female. more than 150,000 people have been infected with HIV.
Also neuropsychiatric comorbidity
►Nervousness and anxiety, sadness and depression, tiredness and insomnia are the mental problems most reported by people with HIV.
►There are factors related to mental illness, such as
Situations of stress, low self-esteem, anxiety or depression, which make this quality of life inferior to that of the rest of the population.
►The persistence of suffering in people with HIV can affect the evolution of their disease and the response to the antiretroviral treatment they receive.
