Study finds HIV patients living for longer
03/07/2008
New research has suggested that people infected with HIV/Aids can now expect to live for longer than ever before.
Britain's Medical Research Council found that sufferers in the developed world are now no more likely to die within five years of being infected than someone in the general population.
It attributed that to the advent of antiretroviral (ARV) drug therapy which dramatically boosts longevity and quality of life, but critics caution that not everyone has access to such treatment.
The latest statistics from the World Health Organisation warn that coverage rates are only about 30 per cent for HIV-positive people living in low to middle-income countries.
Nonetheless, the British researchers stressed that the findings confirm the medical benefits of ARV treatment and highlight the importance of expanding their distribution across the globe.
"This is looking really good that life expectancies are becoming close to the uninfected population," Reuters quoted lead researcher Kholoud Porter as saying. "It also underscores the importance that people are identified and treated early."
Less positively, the findings found that the risk of succumbing to an Aids-related illness remains high after five years - something Dr Porter attributed to patients discontinuing treatment.
A recent study out of Ethiopia found that a quarter of all people receiving ARV treatment in that country pull out of their programmes due to logistical problems or social pressure.
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