Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions to Prevent HIV Acquisition

Because of the severe health consequences of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and the costs of lifelong treatment, inexpensive and effective HIV prevention is bound to be cost-effective. But what constitutes HIV prevention, and can it be affordable and effective? The use of condoms that cost a few cents and prevent a young adult from acquiring a chronic and fatal disease will, over time, be cost saving. Avoiding sex with someone who is infected with HIV/AIDS will be even more so. What can be done to get people to use condoms? What can be done to facilitate the avoidance of risky sexual encounters? Additional efficacious biomedical tools have become available, but similar questions persist: What can be done to get young women at risk to use oral truvada effectively as preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and to get young men at risk to be circumcised? The answers to these questions will determine what packages of prevention are essential, how much prevention programs should cost, and how cost-effective they can be. This chapter reviews current evidence about the efficacy, effectiveness, and costs of HIV/AIDS prevention products, programs, and approaches. HISTORY OF THE HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC AND PREVENTION INITIATIVES