Death rates HIV patients = non-patients

A study published today in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) found that

“People with HIV in the developed world are no more likely to die in the first five years following infection than men and women in the general population”

This is a significant finding showing the promising results of the highly active antiretroviral drug therapy (HAART). In this study the researchers followed more than 16,500 patients from early 1980s to 2006. They noticed that after 5 years the risk increased,

possibly because people become less likely to take the drugs regularly or maybe because they are less able to tolerate the drugs, Porter said.

We have come a long way in fighting AIDS and we have a long road ahead to go – this study was limited to only developed countries. In 2007, an estimated 33.2 million people are living with this disease and killed 2.1 million people (including 330,000 children). It has become an endemic in sub-sharan Africa and India. Most people in such under-developed and developing countries cannot afford the costly drug therapy and hence the high death rate.

Trialx.org currently has 454 ongoing HIV/AIDS clinical trials in the US alone. Lets do our part to support more scientific research to help eradicate this deadly disease from the face of the earth.