A recent study carried out by a team of researchers from Canada, Switzerland and South Africa has claimed that the new antiretroviral therapy could improve the life expectancy of people suffering from HIV in Africa. The country has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infections across the world. The antiretroviral drug therapy is widely used in the United States and Europe. The study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday.

The study has also revealed that after the introduction of antiretroviral therapy financed by the U. S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a 20-year-old person can live for 26.7 more years, on average and a 35-year-old could expect to live 28 more years. The new therapy has increased the average life expectancy to about 55 years.

Dr. Deborah Cotton, Deputy Editor of the Medical Journal, wrote in an editorial, “Enabling HIV-infected young adults, Africa's workers and parents to live a normal life span is fundamental to returning Africa to its positive health trajectory of a few decades ago”.

Recent figures have shown that at present, about one third of Africa’s 10 million people infected with HIV are treated with antiretroviral drugs.