HIV-related disease

Abstract

HIV remains a major global public health issue. It is estimated that in 2016 there were over 36 million people living with HIV (PLHIV), 1.8 million of who were new infections. Since the start of the epidemic around 35 million people are thought to have died. These sobering statistics are tempered by the remarkable impact of effective combination antiretroviral therapy (ART). This has transformed the lives of the estimated 57% of PLHIV who use it long term, and has led to a 50–90% fall in the incidence of many HIV-associated opportunistic infections, some malignancies, and death since the peak in 2005.