HIV prevalence and incidence in people 50 years and older in rural South Africa

To the Editor: Studies of HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa usually focus on the age group 15 -49 years. 1 However, estimates of HIV prevalence in older people are required for health policy and planning. The health care and social needs of older HIV-infected individuals differ from younger people; e.g. because of different co-morbidities, 2 different responses to antiretroviral treatment (ART), 3 and the central role of older adults in African households. n South Africa, a nationally representative survey provided first insights into the burden of HIV in the population 50 years of age, reporting HIV prevalence in men/women as 10.4%/10.2% (in the age group 50 -54 years), 6.2%/7.7% (55 -59 years), and 3.5%/1.8% (60 years). 5 However, the South African HIV epidemic is highly heterogeneous 6 with substantial variation by geographic location and ethnic group, limiting the value of national averages.