There is no single answer to this question because it depends on many factors, including a person's age, genetics, overall health status and his or her health-related behaviors. Before antiretroviral therapy became available in 1996, experts estimated that half of people with HIV would develop AIDS within 10 years. With the many new, highly effective medications we now have, most HIV specialists believe patients with HIV can expect to live for many year and may have a normal life expectancy and never develop AIDS.