Five-year survival rates after an AIDS diagnosis have improved dramatically in the modern era of HIV treatment, but there is still great room for improvement, MedPage Today reports. Publishing their findings in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, researchers analyzed data from the San Francisco Department of Public Health on 20,858 people diagnosed with AIDS during three periods: 1981 to 1986, when there were no HIV treatments; 1987 to 1996, the era of mono- and dual-therapy treatment; and 1997 to 2012, the triple-cocktail antiretroviral (ARV) era.

There were 3,002 people in the first period, 14,097 in the second, and 3,759 in the third. By 2012, 17,099 people had died, including 2,957 in the first period, 12,569 in the second and 1,573 in the third, or a respective 98.4 percent, 89.2 percent and 41.9 percent. The five-year survival rate leapt from 7 percent in the first era to 18 percent in the second and 65 percent in the current era.

The study authors made a push in their paper for better prevention and treatment efforts to bring up the current survival rate. Further, it is possible this rate is worse for people diagnosed with AIDS in the country as a whole, as San Francisco has a comparatively good care system for people with HIV.