Mortality rates among people with HIV significantly dropped after the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy, particularly between 1999 and 2009, but remained stable from 2010 to 2020.
The study analyzed data from over 55,000 participants, revealing that AIDS-related deaths were most common in the earlier period, while deaths from non-AIDS-related malignancies increased in the later years.
Despite the decline in overall mortality, the reduction was not entirely attributed to better immune function or the presence of other risk factors, suggesting other contributing elements may be at play.