OBJECTIVES: HIV-infected patients demonstrate a health-related quality of life (HRQoL) lower than that of the general population. The goals of antiretroviral therapy (ART) include the improvement of HRQOL in addition to the reduction of symptoms, suppression of the virus, and enhancement of survival. The study evaluated HRQoL of HIV-infected patients at months 0 and 6 of receiving ART; and compared the HRQoL index of male and female participants. METHODS: The HRQoL of a cohort of 150 HIV-infected patients was evaluated at months 0 and 6 of receiving ART using SF-36 health survey form. Wilcoxon’s signed ranks test was used to compare the HRQoL index between two groups of data. All reported P values were 2-sided, and P<0.05 was used to determine statistical significance. RESULTS: The mean age of the 150 patients at initiation of antiretroviral treatment was 34.30 (95% CI, 32.96 - 35.64) years; and 59.3% were females. At 6 months follow-up, 118 (78.7%) ART patients who met the 6th month medication refill appointment were evaluated for HRQoL. Before commencing ART, the mean HRQoL of participants was 71.22 (95%CI, 68.00 – 74.44) which increased significantly to 90.83 (95%CI, 88.49 – 93.17) at 6 months follow up on ART (p<0.05). The change across all the HRQoL domains in the SF-36 instrument was also statistically significant (p<0.05) except for the domains of role limitation due to emotional problems, social functioning and pain (p > 0.05). Difference in the HRQoL index of male and female gender at months 0 and 6 was not statistically significant (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant improvement in the mean HRQoL of the participants after 6 months of ART; the difference between HRQoL index of male and female participants was not significant. Routine evaluation of HRQoL in clinical practice is highly recommended as long-term outcome may be different.