HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS COUNSELING, TESTING, REFERRAL, AND PARTNER NOTIFICATION SERVICES - A COST-BENEFIT-ANALYSIS

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, G a) annually provides more than $100 million in funding to states, terr itories, and cities for the provision of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) counseling, testing, referral, and partner notification (CTRPN) services. Given the size of this expenditure, it is important to consi der the net benefits of this program activity. We compared the economi c costs and benefits of publicly funded HIV CTRPN services. Methods: S tandard methods for cost-benefit analysis were used. A societal perspe ctive was employed. Major assumptions used in the base-case analysis i ncluded the following: (1) without public funding, the HIV CTRPN servi ces would not be provided; (2) for every 100 HIV-seropositive persons identified and reached by CTRPN services, at least 20 new HIV infectio ns are averted; and (3) for every $100 spent on direct and indirect co sts of CTRPN services, approximately another $60 is spent on the ancil lary costs of alerting people to HIV issues and CTRPN service availabi lity. Sensitivity analyses were performed to explore the robustness of base-case results to these and other changes in model assumptions. Re sults: Under base-case assumptions, the combined direct, indirect, and ancillary costs of the CTRPN program in 1990 dollars were $188 217 60 0. At a 6% discount rate, the estimated economic benefits of this expe nditure are $3 781 918 000. The resultant benefit-cost ratio is 20.09. Sensitivity analyses showed that the benefit-cost ratio is greater th an 1 for all considered cases. Conclusions: This cost-benefit analysis strongly suggests that publicly funded CTRPN services result in a net economic gain to society.