>In the 1980s people would seemingly go from health to HIV+ to AIDS to dead in a matter of years.

Because we didn’t have treatments.

>Today you rarely hear of AIDS-related deaths.

Because they’re not news worthy anymore. It’s not novel. But people absolutely die from it. People who are not adherent to treatments. People who are homeless without resources. People with significant mental illness who are one or both of the former. I have cared for quite a few individuals who either died or did very poorly otherwise.

But you can see that death rates dropped off significantly after introduction of antiretroviral therapy.