HIV & AIDS Health Center

Combo Therapy Boosts HIV Life Expectancy

Combination Therapy and HIV Life Expectancy continued...

In a commentary that accompanies the study, David A. Cooper of the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, says that with the advent of combination antiretroviral therapy the outlook for people with HIV has become less bleak and diagnosis has moved away from being an immediate death sentence.

"During the past 10 years, the discourse with patients has changed. They want to know how long they have to live. They want to plan their lives better. Should they consider life insurance, health insurance, or superannuation for retirement?"

Despite these positive results, researchers say more work is needed to close a nearly two-decade gap in life expectancy: An HIV-positive person who started on combination antiretroviral drug therapy at age 20 can expect to live to age 63 compared with an HIV-negative person in a wealthy country, who can expect to live around 80 years.