Question
What is the evidence for your statements that people can lead a long and normal life?
20 July 2007. Related: Adherence, All topics, Living with HIV long-term, Side effects.
Hi Simon,
A question for you. In many answers you make the statement that people who have acces to treatment will live a (near) normal lifespan. That sounds very encouraging!
Still I have hope but it sounds so hard to believe.
Answer
Hi Zeb
Because combination therapy has only been around for 10 years, these statements are usually based on studies that use a mathematical model to predict continued impact todays treatment.
Two examples of such studies are linked below:
- Life expectancy of persons at the time of initiating combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in high-income countries
- Survival of persons with and without HIV infection in Denmark
It is really sad, but you are right. The access to treatment, care and support is utterly skewed. To put it bluntly, you have way better chances to live longer and have better health if you are born rich, in a developed country with free healthcare system or if you are among the privileged in a poorer society. There are still countries where people with HIV are sent to prison and countries where people with HIV are refused treatment. Another big problem is that there are also countries where the governments cannot afford to buy the ARVs or are so corrupt that prefer to use the money for something else…
There is much work to be done in terms of activism!
Good to hear about the life expectancy of
There is a reply to a similar question on life expectancy: http://www.i-base.info/qa/?p=543
It’s right. If u follow perfect