Being HIV positive is no longer a death sentence'

UNITED STATES: U.S. researchers found a 20-year-old HIV-positive adult on antiretroviral therapy (ART) may be expected to live into their early 70's . But life expectancy is lower for people with a history of injecting drugs as well as those who are not white. Being HIV positive is no longer the death sentence it once was, as life expectancy of those receiving treatment is approaching that of the general population.

Researchers found a 20-year-old HIV-positive adult on antiretroviral therapy (ART) may be expected to live into their early 70s - a life expectancy approaching that of the general U.S. population. However, life expectancy is lower for people with a history of injecting drugs as well as those who are not white.
The life expectancies of nearly 23,000 individuals on ART - which consists of the combination of at least three antiretroviral drugs to best suppress the HIV virus and stop the progression of HIV disease - were calculated based on mortality rates in the early to mid-2000s.

Participants in the study, by the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design and the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, were aged 20 years or older.

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