new study says early treatment and prevention is helping Canadians with HIV. We see two figures walking wide beach next to an ocean with the white surf coming in. On the beach is a giant red anti-AIDS ribbon symbol.

new study says early treatment and prevention is helping Canadians with HIV.
Photo Credit: cbc.ca

Life spans of Canadians with HIV shows big jump

A new study finds that Canadians diagnosed with HIV are living about 16 years longer than they were in 2000.

The study by the Vancouver-based Canadian Observational Cohort Collaboration found that the overall life expectancy of Canadians undergoing antiretroviral treatment for the AIDS-causing virus has increased to 65 years.

However, the study also found life expectancy improved more for men than for women and that people with a history of drug use and that people with First Nations ancestry did not experience as much of an increase.

The study did not explore the reasons behind the differences.

The study’s senior investigator, Robert Hogg, a senior scientist at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, suggested socio-economic disparities and varying access to treatment were two possibilities.

He called on the federal government to adopt a nation-wide strategy emphasising early treatment and prevention, similar one currently in use in British Columbia.

Research has shown that early treatment not only improves the health of people living with HIV, but also reduces onward transmission of the disease.

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