Dear Dr Young,

Thank you for your continued work and efforts for people living with HIV!

I really hope you have the time to answer this question as you have confused me a great deal with an earlier answer you made. Someone asked a recent question titled 'Long Term Health'. In your answer you replied that the patient can 'expect to live 10 - 15 yrs'.

I am completely confused by what you wrote. In earlier replies you have consistently mentioned that life expectancy is nearing the normal population. However, you are now qouting that life expectancy for someone diagnosed with HIV today is 10 - 15 yrs?? So what is the truth? We constantly hear optimistic numbers being banded around with life expectancy anywhere between 24 yrs (min) to normal (max).

Are you saying i should only expect to live another 10-15 yrs? If so then i need to know the truth so i can plan my life accordingly. Basically this disease is still terminal if we should only expect 10-15 yrs and we havent progressed at all since the early days of the pandemic.

Please please make your previous comment clear, as i know i am not the only one dispirited and disheartened by what you wrote....we only want the truth? What is it?

Thanking you in advance

D

Hello and sorry that my earlier post was not clear.

The person posting the question was asking if he could expect to live 10-15 years, to which my answer was intended to say yes (and more).

This was not to imply that others couldn't live longer at all, nor that I don't expect all of my friends and patients to live a normal life expectancy.

Indeed, the whole idea of putting a number on this is ultimately trying to be too precise.

Again, sorry for the confusion.

BY