Who provides HIV and AIDS care in the home? – Family and friends

Family members and friends provide the majority of home care for people with HIV and AIDS. Among this group, however, the provision of care falls disproportionately to women and older people. In one South African study, over two-thirds of family caregivers in households affected by HIV and AIDS were women or girls.¹⁴ It is estimated that half of all older people in areas severely affected by AIDS are involved in caring for older children with HIV and/or AIDS orphans.¹⁵ This burden of care assumed by women and the elderly has been recognised at the highest levels. The United Nations’ 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS advocates ‘providing support and rehabilitation to these children and their families, women and the elderly, particularly in their role as caregivers’.¹⁶ At an awareness raising concert former South African president, Nelson Mandela, specifically mentioned these carers as deserving of more attention: