Since 1996, the life expectancy of HIV patients in developed countries taking antiviral therapy has increased more than 13 years, and deaths have dropped by almost 40 percent, researchers report.
"People on [antiretroviral therapy] can live a fairly long life," said lead researcher Robert Hogg, from the British Col****ia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver. "If they are a woman, they can marry and have a child, and see the child grow up. If they're going to school, they can graduate from university, or they can continue to have a full adult life expectancy."