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A long life with HIV

Roger Pebody

This booklet provides information on living well with HIV as you get older.

More and more people living with HIV are now in their fifties, sixties or beyond. You may have had HIV for decades and have a lot of previous experience of HIV and its treatment. Or you may have been diagnosed with HIV more recently and are dealing with a new medical condition as you get older.

To take care of your health, you will need to consider a range of health issues, not just HIV. An active and healthy lifestyle will reduce your risk of having other health conditions on top of HIV.

It’s also important to prepare for the future. There’s information in the last part of the booklet on work and volunteering, dealing with financial concerns, and strengthening your support network.

The information in this booklet is not intended to replace discussion with your medical teams about your treatment and care. However, it may help you decide what questions you’d like to ask healthcare professionals about your health.

Thank you to the following for their assistance in reviewing this booklet:

Professor Jane Anderson, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Tristan Barber, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust; Clive Blowes, Terrence Higgins Trust; Garry Brough, Positively UK; Darren Brown, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Stuart Gibson, Barts Health NHS Trust; Dr Tom Levett, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust; Jo Josh, UK-CAB; Dr Fiona Lampe, University College London; Dr Frank Post, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Dr Damien Ridge, University of Westminster; Dr Dana Rosenfeld, Keele University; Chris Sandford, Bloomsbury Patient Network; Dr Andrew Ustianowski, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Jaime Vera, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr Shema Tariq, University College London; Shaun Watson, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Professor Alan Winston, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; Dr Mike Youle, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

  • HIV and your health

    The outlook has never been better for people with HIV in the UK. With the right HIV treatment and care, most people can expect to have...

  • Other health issues

    As you get older, it’s even more important to regularly attend clinic appointments and stay in touch with your healthcare providers. Your HIV clinic appointments will include...

  • Things you can do to look after your health

    Why? Effective HIV treatment has benefits for your overall health, including protecting against cancer, heart disease, kidney disease and liver disease. Among people living with HIV, rates...

  • Preparing for the future

    As you get older, your circumstances and your needs are likely to change. While it’s hard to know exactly how life will be in a few years’...

A long life with HIV

Published September 2018

Last reviewed September 2018

Next review September 2021

Contact NAM to find out more about the scientific research and information used to produce this booklet.

NAM is grateful to Gilead Sciences Europe Ltd, Janssen-Cilag Ltd, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp and ViiV Healthcare for funding the production of this resource. Our funders have had no editorial control over the content.

Living with HIV as you get older

This booklet is part of a range of resources on health problems, co-morbidities and challenges that people living with HIV may face as they get older.

The full range is available on aidsmap and also includes factsheets, an online Side-effects checker tool, Side-effects information booklet and resources in other languages.

Visit our Living with HIV as you get older page >
This content was checked for accuracy at the time it was written. It may have been superseded by more recent developments. NAM recommends checking whether this is the most current information when making decisions that may affect your health.
Community Consensus Statement on Access to HIV Treatment and its Use for Prevention

Together, we can make it happen

We can end HIV soon if people have equal access to HIV drugs as treatment and as PrEP, and have free choice over whether to take them.

Launched today, the Community Consensus Statement is a basic set of principles aimed at making sure that happens.

The Community Consensus Statement is a joint initiative of AVAC, EATG, MSMGF, GNP+, HIV i-Base, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, ITPC and NAM/aidsmap
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This content was checked for accuracy at the time it was written. It may have been superseded by more recent developments. NAM recommends checking whether this is the most current information when making decisions that may affect your health.

NAM’s information is intended to support, rather than replace, consultation with a healthcare professional. Talk to your doctor or another member of your healthcare team for advice tailored to your situation.