Anti-AIDS drugs have raised the lifespan of HIV patients in the United States and Europe by 10 years, according to the study published in The Lancet HIV on Thursday.

A 20-year-old patient who started the treatment in 2008 has now an expected lifespan of 78 years, which is equivalent to the life expectancy of an uninfected person.

Like Us on Facebook

The life expectancy in the general population, excluding HIV patient, is 82 years for women and 78 for men in the United States, while 85 years for women and 79 for men in France.

According to the researchers, those who started taking antiretroviral treatment (ART) in 2008 had healthier lives and lived longer compared to those who began treatment in preceding years. The result is due to the fewer toxic side-effects of modern drugs. Now, there are more options for HIV patients to choose better treatment and a drug-resistant HIV strain.

In the study, the researcher conducted a survey in America and Europe involving more than 88,000 HIV patients.

The information regarding the life expectancy of people living with HIV and that it could be approaching in the general population is necessary, so those who are at risk will be motivated to test for HIV and convince those who are infected to start ART.

It could also reduce "stigmatization" of people living with HIV to encourage them to get employment or insurance, researchers noted.

ART is a combination of three or more drugs that prevent the virus from replicating and became widely used in 1996. The treatment is lifelong, however, it does not cure the disease but it delays the virus from spreading.

The World Health Organization suggests starting taking ART, as soon as possible or after diagnosis to further raise the lifespan equivalent to healthy individuals.