Antiretroviral therapy and population mortality: Leveraging routine national data to advance policy

Reducing mortality from HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria with effective medicines, preventing diseases with immunisations, and improving access to safe water and sanitation are some of the greatest public health achievements of recent times According to World Bank estimates, the HIV epidemic coincided with reductions in life expectancy in South Africa that were largely reversed during the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) (Fig In Kwa-Zulu-Natal, the South African province with the most severe HIV epidemic, empirical data from one of Africa's largest population cohorts has shown rapid life expectancy increases following South Africa's national ART rollout [3].