Antiretroviral therapy has been used to treat HIV for 20 years, but newer drugs have fewer side effects, involve taking fewer pills, prevent multiplication of the virus.
Regular treatment, increased use of screening and prevention programmes for conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer have also contributed.
Antiretroviral therapy first became widely used in 1996. It involves a combination of three or more drugs that block the HIV virus from increasing.
It also prevents onward spread of the disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) now recommends antiretroviral therapy to be given as soon as possible after diagnosis to all people with HIV.
When looking specifically at deaths due to AIDS, the number of deaths during treatment reduced over time between 1996 and 2010, likely as a result of newer drugs being more effective in restoring the immune system.
As a result of the improvements, between 1996 and 2013, the life expectancy of 20-year-olds treated for HIV increased by nine years for women and 10 years for men.
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