HIV 40 years on: Time to focus now on Health-Related Quality of Life!

2021 marks the 40th anniversary since the first cases of AIDS were reported. HIV is no longer necessarily a death sentence and substantial progress has been made since 1981. However, people living with HIV still do not enjoy the same health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as the rest of the population.

To date, the HIV pandemic has resulted in an estimated 75 million adults, adolescents and children acquiring HIV and has claimed the lives of over 32 million people worldwide. Today, with access to the right interventions, HIV infection can be suppressed, making it a manageable long-term condition rather than a fatal disease.

However, even with effective viral suppression people living with HIV experience poorer HRQoL than the rest of the population. Far from the WHO definition of health being a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, people living with HIV still find themselves facing stigma and discrimination along with the challenge of dealing with comorbidities and healthy ageing.

This event will explore the policy actions needed to enable greater emphasis on HRQoL to deliver tangible value to those living with HIV.