HIV/AIDS patients achieving improved outcomes

China has expanded HIV/AIDS therapy to cover over 90 percent of patients in the country, and for those already in treatment there is a 90 percent success rate, signifying major progress in tackling the disease, according to a recent study. Improving access to effective treatment has resulted in a decrease in the disease's mortality rate and a marked rise in life expectancy for HIV/AIDS patients in the country, said the study released on Oct 20 by China CDC Weekly, a research platform of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The policy promises free antiretroviral drug therapy for HIV/AIDS patients, free counseling and testing, free schooling for children who've lost parents due to the disease, free services for pregnant women with HIV/AIDS, as well as intensified care for impoverished patients. Li Tongzeng, a doctor at the infectious disease department at Beijing YouAn Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, said that through complying with standard treatment regimens, most HIV/AIDS patients can stay in stable condition and their risk of spreading the virus would be very low.