THE COSTS OF HIV PREVENTION STRATEGIES IN DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES

Since many evaluations of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) preventio n programmes do not include data on costs, a preliminary analysis of t he costs and outputs of a sample of HIV prevention projects was attemp ted. Case studies, representing six broad HIV prevention strategies in developing countries with differing levels of per capita gross domest ic product, were sought on the basis of availability of data and poten tial generalizability. The six prevention strategies studied were mass media campaigns, peer education programmes, sexually transmitted dise ase treatment, condom social marketing, safe blood provision, and need le exchange/bleach provision programmes. Financial cost data were abst racted from published studies or were obtained directly from project c oordinators. Although estimates of cost-effectiveness were not made, c alculations of the relative cost per common process measure of output were compared. Condom distribution costs ranged from US$ 0.02 to 0.70 per condom distributed, and costs of strategies involving personal edu cational input ranged from US$ 0.15 to 12.59 per contact.