Committed to Caring: Older Women and HIV and AIDS in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam

Interviews and focus group discussions with older women carers in three countries – Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam - indicate that they assume multiple responsibilities in caring for people living with HIV and/or orphaned and vulnerable children. Looking after an adult child can involve a range of tasks, from obtaining food, water and medicine to assisting them to eat, bath, and dress. Caring for both affected and infected grandchildren requires them to take on important duties in areas such as health, nutrition, and education. In both cases, older women are key providers of emotional support.

The consequences of serving as the main carer in these circumstances are often severe, interconnected, and enduring. Their economic status can be weakened due to direct costs (medical, food, clothing, education) and indirect costs (loss of income support, lack of time to earn money), leading them to sell assets and borrow money.

Despite their evident burden, older women carers remain neglected within the response to HIV and AIDS in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. Numerous commitments relating to older carers have been made at international level, but national policies guiding the response contain few, if any, specific references to them.