Long-term Health Prospects Continue to Improve

Data presented in February at the 10th annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections show that the risk of developing AIDS or dying of the disease continues to fall due to the success of highly active antiretroviral therapy. Researchers at London's Royal Free and University College Medical School examined the outcomes of 9,803 people diagnosed with HIV in Europe between 1994 and 2002. The risk of death due to AIDS-related complications fell by 80% between 1994 and 1998; protease inhibitor' based regimens became standard treatment in 1996. Between late 1998 and the end of 2002, the risk of AIDS or death due to the disease fell an additional 8% every six months.