Question
If HIV is now manageable why are people still dying?
9 April 2008. Related: All topics, Living with HIV long-term.
I have recently been diagnosed with HIV and have been doing a lot of research into treatment of the virus. It sounds like there is some novel ways to treat HIV and people are living a normal lives on treatment. My question is why is it then that a people with HIV and AIDS are still dying of HIV if it is now manageable?
Answer
Thank you for this very good question. There are a number of reasons why people are still dying from HIV and AIDS. I will name a few because I do not think I can exhaust them all.
First, believe it or not the majority of people living with HIV around the world do not know they have HIV. Access to testing not to mention the stigma attached to the disease, stops people from finding out their status. Additionally many people test very late, once their immune system has already been damaged or when they are very ill, and are unable to get the full benefit from HIV treatment.
The other issue is drug resistance. People who are resistant to all the drugs have few options, until either news medications are developed or access to new drugs improves.
Lastly, people living with HIV are at slightly higher risk of diseases that affect the general population like heart disease and cancers than the general population. Some people will be affected by this as they age, and HIV may increase this risk.
These are only a few reasons, I know there are a few more.
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