Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - Tuesday 09 April 2002
But when Duangkaew Songkaew recalled how the epidemic struck his granddaughter _ how he washed her wounds and blisters and walked long distances to buy the girl treats as her five-year-old body wasted away _ his eyes became wells of tears.
"It hurts me every time to think about it _ so that I still cry today," he said.
Songkaew's story is typical of the multitude of grandparents in developing countries who have found themselves caring for grandchildren orphaned by the epidemic.
Their plight _ and that of old people infected by Aids _ has long been ignored because Aids research and treatment focused on the young.
However, the issue will be raised at a UN conference on ageing to be opened by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today.
Aid groups say the burden is becoming too much to bear for the elderly in poor societies.
"Older people have looked after grandchildren as long as the world existed," said Fiona Clark of HelpAge International, a global non-profit group.
"Now the kind of support they were getting from the middle generation is disappearing because the middle generation is dying."
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says at least five million elderly people in Africa alone have taken on the role of parents to children because of Aids. But the real figure could be much higher: around eight million African children have been orphaned by the epidemic.
"Where there is a person living with HIV and Aids, there's an elderly person who takes over and looks after the children," said Gloria Mbambo, who counsels families dealing with the disease in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
The UN has predicted that by mid-century, one-fifth of the world population of 10 billion will be aged over 60. The demographic changes will be toughest on developing countries, with meagre resources to provide them with economic support.
With little or no pension, grandparents are already providing shelter, food, clothing, health care, school fees _ and funerals _ for their grandchildren, many of whom are infected.
Like Songkaew, who has a fourth-grade education, elderly people often have scant knowledge of the disease, and face stigmatisation.
"People who used to know us and greet us," he said, "would turn their faces away."
The high cost of treating three Aids victims forced the poultry and vegetable farmer to sell part of his land and draw from his small savings. In many cases, it can devastate families for generations.
"You end up with a cycle of chronic poverty," said Ms Clark of HelpAge. She told of a Kenyan woman whose daughter and granddaughter died, leaving eight great-grandchildren in her care.
"It's a vicious circle. You don't know how to get out of it," she said.
Paballo Allen Tsosana of Bloemfontaine, South Africa, is 29 and has Aids, as does her four-year-old child. She has no father and her mother is unemployed, so the family is supported by her 80-year-old grandmother, who earns a monthly pension of 620 rand (about 2,400 baht).
"At first I didn't want anyone to tell her. But then I needed her help," she said.
Nations at the five-day meeting will be asked to ratify a proposal which calls for more research into the impact of HIV/Aids on older people.
They will also discuss better training and support for older caregivers and treatment for those infected.
Until now, said Ms Clark, Aids research has focused on children "because their whole life is ahead of them.
"It's shortsighted because unless you support the older people who are caring for those children, the children will end up on their own," she said.
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