Women benefit more from Aids drugs

26 November 2015 - 02:38 By Katharine Child

The roll-out of ARVs has dramatically increased life expectancy in women. However, men are not benefiting as much.The difference in life expectancy between women and men is increasing as a result, according to a study published this week in the journal PLOS Medicine.It showed that in 2011 women in rural KwaZulu-Natal were 27% less likely to die of Aids than men. Death rates between men and women were similar in 2003.The ARV roll-out has increased female life expectancy by 13.2 years, while male life expectancy increased by only nine years.The Wellcome's Trust Africa Centre for Population Health in Mtubatuba and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health conducted the study.The Africa Centre has followed a group of almost 10000 people in KwaZulu-Natal, from 2001, before ARVs were available, to 2011.Using this data they have been able to track deaths from Aids.People in the community are interviewed three times a year and when deaths take place questions are asked of family members.Africa Centre director Deenan Pillay said the strength of the study was that it followed people over a long time and could demonstrate through death statistics the impact of men being less likely to access HIV treatment."There is a huge benefit in the roll-out of antiretrovirals in life expectancy in South Africa, but women are benefiting more."Men are not getting into the clinics and fewer are getting tested and treated."If the man is the breadwinner this can have economic implications."The data suggests the health department needs to look at ways of reaching more men for HIV testing and treatment."..

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