“Being 60 in Honduras is not equivalent to being 60 in the States,” writes Honduran Executive Director Pascual Torres. “Some of the challenges might be the same, others are very different. I don’t only know it for our patients, I know it from my own experience,” he says.
This year, Gilead Sciences awarded Siempre Unidos a grant to develop medical and psychosocial protocols for treating people living with HIV (PLWH) who are middle aged and older in Honduras. Older PLWH are more likely to have cardiovascular, lung, kidney and liver disease, certain cancers, and neurocognitive disorders than people without HIV. If living in Honduras, these individuals may face the added burdens of extreme poverty, a weak health system and isolating stigma.
Below is a photo of Pascual and the older Siempre Unidos patients beginning the grant-funded activities of identifying their treatment needs. By building on their experiences and opinions, we will innovate for improved services in our own clinics and hopefully for wide adoption in Honduras.
