Changes in mortality following HIV and AIDS and estimation of the number of people living with diagnosed HIV/AIDS in Australia, 1981-2003.

The article discusses a study which investigated changes in mortality following HIV and AIDS in Australia. HIV/AIDS was revolutionized with the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the 1990s. The Standardised Mortality Ratios (SMRs) for deaths were calculated before antiretroviral therapy, pre- and early-HAART and HAART. Findings revealed that there 1,789 deaths following HIV without AIDS and 6,730 deaths after AIDS. The SMRs for deaths after AIDS were 2.99, 1.22 and 1.6 during the periods before 1990, 1990-1996 and 1997-2003. In addition, the crude death rate following HIV without AIDS rose to 19.6 in 2003.