Collections By Michelle Brown

Kristina Schmidgall  is Director of Care Services at UNIFIED - HIV Health and Beyond. Different governments and organizations have declared different months as AIDS Awareness Month including October. We Can Stop HIV, lift the stigma and educate our communities on the truth about living with HIV and AIDS One Conversation at a Time. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States alone 1.1 million people are living with HIV and 1 in 7 of them don’t know it. For those infected with HIV, treatment works. The outlook for people living with HIV has significantly improved over the past two decades. Many people who are HIV-positive can now live longer, healthier lives when they’re in routine care. In 1996, the total life expectancy for an infected 20-year-old person was 39 years. In 2011, the total life expectancy bumped up to about 70 years. Someone who is HIV-positive, receiving treatment, and in optimal health may live to be in their late 70s. Kristina entered this field as a vol