Thank you for being here. I read this a article in the Guardian by Lisa Power (THT) on aging and HIV and as a 49 year old woman diagnosed in 2006. It made me think of my mortality, not wise whilst sitting on the northern line in rush hour. It stated that a someone diagnosed at 34 in the west can expect to live until 72! So what hope it is for me and my husband, me 49, him 45 both on meds since May 06. Both health now, I,ve had PCP in 06, but over it, both undetectable, but take statins. It just worried me that 72 is the best I can expect. We were in our 40's not 30's on diagnosis and I was very ill. Made me think we should cash in our civil service pensions and ride into the sun. We did expect to spend longer together.

P.

Dear P, This article was based on a report from a big cohort study following thousands of people with HIV. It shows a steady improvement in survival for people with HIV, so that they have a life expectancy within 10 years of the general population. This gap is still narrowing as we take account of new treatments, new information on risks of important diseases with specific HIV medications and new monitoring approaches that facilitate early intervention to prevent emerging health issues in HIV posite persons. All this suggests that for your generation of people with HIV we expect that the difference in survival between you and similar uninfected people will be narrower still and you can expect a bit more than 72 years. A lot depends on your family history and lifestyle, not where your HIV led you in the past. Keep paying that civil service pension and plan for may happy years of retrirement in your 60s and 70s Kind Regards Dr Moyle