Bohdan Nosyk and Julio Montaner of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver, Canada argue in an Essay published in this week's PLoS Medicine that the cost-effectiveness of HAART roll out has been significantly underestimated, because economic analyses have not yet taken into account the beneficial impact of HAART on prevention of HIV transmission.
The authors comment: "the strategic value of expanded HIV testing and expansion of HAART coverage has dramatically increased. We believe this should open the door for wide-scale implementation of ''Seek, Test, Treat and Retain'' programs as a means to control HIV and AIDS-related morbidity, mortality, and transmission at once."
Funding: No specific funding was received for writing this article.
Competing Interests: BN is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Bisby Fellow, and also supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. Since 2011, JSGM has received grants from antiretroviral manufacturers Abbott, Biolytical, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Janssen, Merck, and ViiV Healthcare. JSGM is also supported by the Ministry of Health Services and the Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport, Province of British Columbia, Canada (2009); by a Knowledge Translation Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR-2010); and through an Avant-Garde Award (No. 1DP1DA026182-01) from the National Institute of Drug Abuse at the US National Institutes of Health (2008-2013). During 2011 to present, JSGM has received support from the International AIDS Society, United Nations AIDS Program, World Health Organization, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health Research-Office of AIDS Research, National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPfAR), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, French National Agency for Research on AIDS & Viral Hepatitis (ANRS), and Public Health Agency of Canada.
Citation: Nosyk B, Montaner JSG (2012) The Evolving Landscape of the Economics of HIV Treatment and Prevention. PLoS Med 9(2): e1001174. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001174
CONTACT:
Julio Montaner
British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital
Providence Health Care
Vancouver
Canada
+1 604 806-8036
jmontaner@cfenet.ubc.ca
Journal
PLoS Medicine