AGING (AND THRIVING) WITH HIV

At nearly 51, Arianna Lint, CEO and founder of Arianna’s Center, defied the expectations of a 35-year lifespan for individuals of transgender experience who are also living with HIV. She never expected to live long enough to share her story as a beacon of hope for Latinos of transgender experience living with HIV.

Born HIV positive at birth, Porchia Dees, chair of the Lifetime Survivors Cohort, was initially expected to live to only five years old. Now, at 37, she embodies the triumph of medical advancements and personal resilience, much like a dandelion flourishing against all odds, dedicating her life to empowering others with her story.

Malcolm Reid, founder of the Silver Lining Project through Thrive SS, has been living with HIV since 1997, defying past expectations for Black same-gender-loving men in an era where some survived and others didn’t. His life’s work aims to show that life with HIV is full and meaningful.

Arianna, Porchia, and Malcolm—three individuals united by survival and strength—are examples of real stories that prove people living with HIV are not just aging with HIV but thriving. They inspire a community to see beyond the diagnosis and focus on the future.

We’re able to share their stories today because of the incredible advancements made in the treatment of HIV. The relentless pace of HIV innovation over the last four decades is widely considered to be one of the greatest achievements of modern science. Researchers changed an HIV diagnosis from a death sentence to a manageable condition that could be treated with effective medicine.

Thanks to the innovative work of companies like ViiV, we are witnessing a transformation in the lives of people living with HIV. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 50% of the 1.2 million Americans living with HIV at the end of 2021 were age 50 or older. By 2030, it’s estimated that 70% of the U.S. population living with HIV will be over age 50.¹

A number of important scientific milestones made this remarkable achievement possible:

• In 1987, the FDA approved azidothymidine (AZT) as the first treatment for HIV, which blocked enzymes the virus needed to replicate.² This breakthrough research pioneered by Marty St. Clair and the team at Burroughs Wellcome provided the initial hope that HIV could be treated. Through Burroughs Wellcome—the first company to bring an HIV antiretroviral therapy to the public— ViiV Healthcare’s focus on HIV innovation traces its roots to the very start of the epidemic.
• In the mid-1990s, protease inhibitors and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors became available. These medicines provided treatment options with greater efficacy and fewer side effects than AZT. This paved the way to a new era of triple-drug therapies, known as highly active antiretroviral therapies, which significantly prolonged the lifespan of people with HIV or AIDS.²
• Continued innovation has led to the FDA approval of 32 treatments over time. Newer HIV drugs are more potent, easier to use, and have fewer side effects than earlier medicines.²
• Today, ViiV Healthcare is proud to play a vital role in this uplifting arc of medical history by offering the first FDA-approved two-drug regimens and the first complete long-acting injectable HIV treatment.
  

At ViiV Healthcare, we’re committed to celebrating people as they age with HIV by partnering with this community to learn about their unique experiences—and better support them on their treatment journeys. Thanks to medical advances, our conversation about surviving has evolved into a conversation about thriving for our aging HIV population.

Healthy aging with HIV is not just physical, it’s also mental and emotional.  While medicines have advanced to keep the immune system healthy, we know that mental health challenges disproportionately impact this community. People living with HIV have a higher chance of developing depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders, according to the National Institutes of Health.

That’s why efforts to combat stigma and discrimination remain critically important to help our aging HIV population live fulfilling and productive lives. We can support our aging HIV population by listening to their experiences and advocating for them in family, social and professional settings. Through our Positive Action Community Grants, we fund organizations solely focused on the aging population to ensure knowledge and resources are readily available in the communities we serve.

Similarly, we can play a critical role in sharing the U=U message (undetectable equals untransmittable) to decrease stigma about living with HIV and help ensure that people living with HIV have every opportunity to find loving partners and enter fulfilling relationships. We do a service to all individuals living with HIV when we educate our friends and peers about the role of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to dramatically reduce transmission.

It’s also true that older adults living with HIV have higher rates of comorbidities than their HIV-negative counterparts. Older Americans living with HIV have a higher chance of developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and bladder or bowel dysfunction, to name a few.³ That’s why it’s important that we encourage frank, open dialogue with newly diagnosed patients and providers about the impacts of different long-term medications. It’s also why we’re focused on developing a pipeline of medicines with the potential to mitigate certain long-term health risks.

Every day is an opportunity to lead, facilitate, and join candid conversations about what it means to live well and thrive with HIV into your golden years. At ViiV Healthcare, we will always celebrate long-term survivors of HIV. We’re proud to be their advocates, their partners, and their champions.

Learn more about our community engagement efforts here.