The Enduring Challenge of Advanced HIV Infection

Abstract

Until recently, progress in the fight against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was primarily measured in terms of the number of patients who were started on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Major efforts to increase access to ART in the low- and middle-income countries that are most affected by HIV infection began in 2000, and over the following 15 years, an estimated 8 million HIV-related deaths were averted. In countries with a high burden of disease, this decline translated into important increases in life expectancy.1 Notwithstanding these gains, the decrease in HIV-associated deaths appears to have plateaued in recent years. HIV still . . .