Panel to Examine the Challenges Posed by the Graying of HIV/AIDS

WASHINGTON, DC – With government estimates showing that half of the 1.2 million Americans living with HIV/AIDS will be over the age of 50 by 2015,  the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging will hold a hearing at 2 p.m. on Wednesday to examine whether the nation is prepared to address the medical and social challenges posed by a growing older population with the disease.

The hearing coincides with National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day, which is held annually on Sept. 18.   It also comes on the heels of a recent report in the journal Nature that Oregon Health & Science University researchers had tested a vaccine that completely cleared an AIDS-causing virus from monkeys, offering new hope that a similar vaccine could work in humans. 

The committee will hear from Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, on the administration’s plans to address HIV/AIDS among older Americans.   The panel will also take testimony from AIDS researchers and activists on the disease’s impact on older adults and treatment options, along with the latest on research developments and funding initiatives for HIV/AIDS in aging populations.     

SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING
HEARING: Older Americans: The Changing Face of HIV/AIDS in America
2:00 p.m., EDT, Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 562
 WITNESSES:

Ronald Valdiserri, MD, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases and Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Daniel Tietz, RN, Executive Director, AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA)

Carolyn Massey, CEO, Massmer Associates, LLC, and HIV/AIDS Education Activist

Kenneth Miller, Executive Director, Down East AIDS Network

Rowena Johnston, PhD, Vice President and Director of Research, amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research